


The Reason

by MagnoliaBloomfield



Category: The Maze Runner (Movies)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-22
Updated: 2020-12-31
Packaged: 2021-03-11 02:20:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 25
Words: 42,870
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28237614
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MagnoliaBloomfield/pseuds/MagnoliaBloomfield
Summary: For three years Gally thrived in a world of order and peace, until she arrived. He strives to maintain order as chaos seeps into their lives from every corner. He's not a perfect person, there's many things he wishes he didn't do, but then he gets a second chance at everything. And he's found a reason to change who he used to be. But will it be enough?I've always loved Gally's character development in the films and it reminds me of the song The Reason by hoobastank and it kind of inspired me to write this story.
Relationships: Gally/OC
Comments: 10
Kudos: 21





	1. Chapter 1

I'm not a perfect person  
There's many things I wish I didn't do  
But I continue learning  
I never meant to do those things to you  
And so I have to say before I go  
That I just want you know  
I found a reason for me  
To change who I used to be  
A reason to start over new  
And the reason is you  
I'm sorry that I hurt you  
It's something I must live with everyday  
And all the pain I put you through  
I wish that I could take it all away  
And be the one who catches all your tears  
That's why I need you to hear  
I've found a reason to show  
A side of me you didn't know  
A reason for all that I do  
And the reason is you.


	2. Two For One

The familiar sound of the rising box filled the glade. All the boys dropped whatever they were doing to come and see what poor soul had just arrived. In the Glade nothing ever changed except for the monthly new arrival, and the hope that this one might remember something useful or at least be entertaining. Greenies is what they called them and Gally wasn't a fan. Maybe he felt bad for them, remembering how terrifying it was to burst out the box like you're being reborn, knowing nothing at all at first, only being lucky to remember your name in a day or two, and learning you were stuck in a giant maze for no discernable reason. Or maybe they were just annoying.

"Where am I?" the new boy blubbered as he squinted into the sunlight at the boys above him. "Who are you?"

The talkative ones were always the most annoying, always asking the same questions they'd heard a hundred times before, suggesting things they already tried, and trying to act like they weren't at the bottom of the pecking order. Gally was there to assure them they were.

He was over six feet tall even at his age, or what he guessed his age to be, no one really knew that either, and was broad and thick from his three years as a builder. He had a permanently displeased expression on his face and almost cartoonishly evil looking eyebrows. Thankfully he looked too mean to be teased and too strong to be threatened. Gally was the kind of boy who could break walls down as well as he could build them up. He towered over the newest Greenie without a hint of compassion.

"Welcome to the Glade, Greenie," he stated plainly as the boy just stared at him with a gaping mouth, not moving an inch. "What, you wanna stay in the box all day? With the pigs?" Gally raised his brows and gently kicked one of the crates in there with them, a high-pitched squeal cutting through the air.

That's when they heard it, a groan. Now, on your average day in the Glade, your average boy could groan up to a hundred times, and if you multiply that by the three years Gally had been stuck in there and the ever-increasing number of citizens, you're talking about thousands of groans. But this one got his attention, something about it was different. At first Gally looked up at the other boys standing around the box as if it would be obvious to tell who did it, and was surprised to see them hush up and look around as well, as if they heard it too.

"Hey!" Someone behind him called out and Gally turned in time to see a slender arm reach over one of the crates.

What the shuck was happening? They'd never gotten two greenies in one month before let alone on the very same day. It didn't sit right with Gally at all, he was never a fan of change, so he was even more perturbed when Newt looked down at the unexpected guest and blurt out "Bloody Hell! It's a girl!"

For years they had only ever gotten boys so Gally was sure he heard wrong, Newt wouldn't be one to joke like that, so maybe the accent came out a little thicker than normal and Gally misunderstood. The rest of the boys had pressed in farther as murmurs of the word 'girl' floated through the group like an echo.

"Gally, come help me move these crates, I think she's stuck," Newt beckoned him, as he hopped down into the box as well.

"She?" Gally repeated, brows still raised questioningly.

"Yes, there's a girl," Newt confirmed, slightly annoyed. "Now stop standing there and help me."

Gally finally snapped out of it as he did as Newt instructed, the boys getting louder and rowdier, all trying to get a better look at her.

"Are you sure it's a girl?" Gally questioned agained, grunting as he moved the crates with minimal assistance from the much slenderer boy. "Maybe it's a boy with long hair."

But his hopes were dashed when they moved the last crate and lifted the fallen tarp off their newest addition. She squinted at the sudden light and held her small hand up to block the sun shining down on her, flinching as boys cheered and whooped, the sheer volume of it drowning out some of their ruder comments.

As upset as Gally was by this deviation from the normal he was also mesmerized by the sight in front of him at first. Her very long hair was tied up in a high pony tail and a light gray shirt hugged curves the likes of which had never graced the Glade before. That would be just like the Creators, Gally thought, to send a beautiful girl in to ruin things. All the boys would be too busy drooling over her do any of their jobs, she'd be able to get away with everything short of murder, and basically everything would have to change all because of one measly girl.

She didn't even speak as she slowly sat up and rubbed her eyes and her head with her palms, obviously as incapacitated as every other greenie had been before her. That or she was faking it. Gally didn't make a move toward her but Newt cautiously approached her side, telling the boys closest to her to bugger off and shut it as Alby yelled at everyone else.

"Are you alright?" Newt asked the girl as he crouched beside her, trying not to put much weight on his gimpy leg.

She finished rubbing her head and turned to him. Her eyes, no longer squinting, were large and such a stormy shade of dark blue you might mistake them for brown at first. Gally saw Newt slightly jerk back in surprise when her gaze connected with his.

"Do I know you?" She asked him, boys around her acting like they were going to pass out just from the sound of her voice, softer and lighter than any boys.

"No, I don't think so," Newt said, his voice cracking in the middle so he had to clear his throat. "My name is Newt."

She stared at him hard for a second and tilted her head to the side before her gaze wandered away from him. "I don't remember my name," She finally said.

"That's alright, that's normal actually. Nothing to worry about, it'll come to you eventually," Newt informed her.

"Hey, where am I?" The other, entirely forgotten, Greenie spoke up again, earning a harsh shush from Gally.

That got the girl's attention and her gaze flicked from Newt to him as if just now noticing him. She wasn't even distracted by Alby pulling the other boy up out of the box behind him, her gaze simply transfixed on the giant with the unique face.

"Come on then, what's say we get you out of here?" Newt asked as he stood up and offered her his hand.

Her eyes hadn't left Gally while Newt was speaking, they only moved away when Newt offered his hand. Hesitantly she took it and got to her feet. She stood just mere inches shorter than Newt himself, causing him to take a step backward when he found her face so close to his. She gently pulled her hand from his grip when he didn't let it go and he cleared his throat again.

"Gally, give us a hand, will ya?" Newt requested as he scrambled up out of the box.

The girl watched him, turning her back so she didn't see Gally come up behind her. She only just came to his chin barely.

"Give us your hands," Newt beckoned to her.

Gally stood behind her, eyeing her figure, not sure what to do with his hands exactly, his arms lightly lifting from his sides in confusion which caused the boys around him to laugh. Some called out things like 'dibs' and all manner of crude things. She took Newts hands and with a slight shake of his head Gally placed his hands on her waist. She flinched slightly, but whether it was from his touch or the boys hollering again he didn't know. All he knew is that Frypan, the resident chef, had definitely made sandwiches bigger than this girl. He ignored Newt entirely, knowing if they counted to 3 and she hopped, he would likely send her into orbit on accident. So, he just lifted her up. Fortunately, she was smart enough and picked her legs up, catching the edge of the box and then Newt took it from there, helping her to stand. Gally had more difficulty getting out since boys were crowding all around her and he had to shove at their legs to get them to move.

"Please, don't touch me," the girls voice spoke up, calm but firm as the boys grabbed at her hair and jostled about her even as Newt tried to fend them off.

"Hey!" Gally's voice rose angrily above everyone else as he swung himself up over the edge of box, finally getting out of it. He glared at the boys, squaring his shoulders to be as intimidating as possible. "That's enough! How about you go do something useful."

That tactic worked on some of the boys and they cleared out. The girl had her arms wrapped around herself, her shoulders hunched as she looked around with even wider eyes. Reality was dawning on her that there were no other girls to be seen. She started to feel uneasy now that it was clear she wasn't dreaming or experiencing some kind of prank. She flinched away from one boy who made a grab at her and bumped into Gally. He steadied her by the shoulders so she wouldn't fall back into the box and knocked the kids hand away.

"Everyone calm down!" Alby yelled. "We're having a meeting, now."

Alby was the leader in the Glade, but each group had a 'keeper' and Gally happened to be keeper of the builders, meaning he was part of this meeting about to happen, and as second in command so was Newt. He didn't know who else could be trusted to keep an eye on the girl to make sure nothing happened to her while they were in there and voiced this concern to Alby.

"Just bring her, it'll save us having to explain twice," was Alby's answer.

The girl willingly came along, walking between Newt and Gally to a small building, keeping quiet much to the builder's relief. The other keepers followed along, ten in total not counting Newt, Alby and the girl which made 13 sitting around the room. The keepers did well enough to keep their mouths shut but had far less self-control when it came to their eyes, having thoroughly checked her out and coming back for seconds and thirds. She noticed this of course and had started walking slightly behind Gally to hide from the ones who kept turning around to blatantly stare at her. Gally didn't actively try to do her any favors but still wasn't outright cruel or creepy to her. He gave up his chair for her, putting it back towards the wall and standing in his place instead as the meeting began. She was surprisingly silent as they discussed the matter amongst themselves as if she wasn't there at all.

She didn't mind this though, because at least she was getting some answers to the questions rattling around her otherwise blank and empty head. Sure, some of it was downright offensive to her, mostly the parts about her being such a major inconvenience and what kind of rules they'd have to put in place to accommodate her. She quickly knew which keepers were fairly decent and which ones she wanted to avoid at all costs. Newt, Frypan, and Zart seemed safe enough. Minho kept smiling at her when he'd catch her eye, his own disappearing into crescents when he did so. He seemed flirtatious but in a way that seemed more nervous than dangerous. Winston was smaller than her and apparently his job was to butcher living things, he was at the top of her list of people to avoid, right above Alby who seemed grumpy as hell.

The tall boy, Gally, confused her the most. He barely looked at her, yet gave up his seat for her. He complained about the work he'd have to do around the 'Glade' to accommodate her and was concerned about where she was supposed to sleep and shower, yet whenever a crude comment was made about her he was the first to tell them to shut their 'shucking' mouth and stay on topic. So, when it came to the topic of what job she should have in the Glade and all the keepers but one loudly proclaimed they'd gladly take her, she finally spoke up.

"Excuse me," her voice was clear as she made sure her tone was neutral and noncombative. "Do I get any say in what I do?"

Newt and Alby shared a look.

"Well, you get to try out a few of the jobs before you settle on one, just to figure out what you're good at. You can pick which one you want to try first," Newt explained.

"But you can't pick Runner," Alby clarified.

"Awe man," Minho whined. "Come on."

"I'd like to start with the Builders," she said confidently and saw Gally's brows instantly furrow as he crossed his thick arms, laughs and complaints filling the air till Alby held up a hand.

"Are you sure about that?" he asked her, raising a brow.

"You can't be serious!" Gally spoke up in surprise. "She's not strong enough to be a builder, and my guys have to focus on what they're doing or someone could get seriously hurt, I can't have her distracting them."

"I understand," she nodded even though it was asinine. "But you were complaining about all the work you'd have to do to accommodate me being here, so I think it's only fair that I do my part to help with that."

She hoped this reasonable argument would win Alby over since he seemed to have the final say in matters. She didn't mention the fact that she picked the only keeper who didn't seem to want anything to do with her on purpose. She wasn't bothered by the fact he didn't seem to like her; it was actually appealing because it meant he probably would keep his hands to himself but also not let her out of his sight. She felt he was her best bet for safety here. Much to everyone's disappointment and Gally's dismay, he earned another builder.


	3. Distraction

She got to work as soon as the meeting was over since they had to make preparations for her to sleep safely that very night. She followed Gally quietly, realizing that her very existence was annoying to him and that was enough. She knew she'd picked a mean one and she'd have to deal with that in exchange for the benefits he provided, but she could minimize his opportunities to be mean to her if she was quiet and did everything he said as perfectly as possible. It wasn't ideal but she just had to get through it.

Sure enough, the other boys were ill behaved and distracted by her, but luckily, she'd assumed correctly about Gally. He constantly ran them off or yelled at them to get back to work. Sure, they still used enough euphemisms and double entendres to make her want to scream and always gave her tasks that required her to bend over, but no one laid a hand on her under Gally's care.

Newt came to check on her occasionally and he would scold the boys for their bad manners when he overheard them. They prepared a room for her in a dilapidated looking house with several rooms patched on to it to make it bigger. They gave her a room with a raggedy looking bed in it, and swapped out her interior door for the front door of this house because it was the only one with a strong enough lock. Of course, they had to modify the door frame so the lock would work with it. Newt brought her a small cabinet of drawers as a house warming gift, complete with some clothes that might fit her tucked inside.

"We're having a bonfire tonight," He informed her. "We have one every time a greenie comes up in the box, so you'll be a guest of honor. Fair warning though: Gally makes this absolutely disgusting concoction of a drink that I suggest you avoid. I'll try to work with Frypan to make sure the boys don't have too much of it, we don't want them doing anything too stupid. Oh, and keep away from the circle, you might catch a flying elbow or get knocked down by whatever poor shank Gally beats the shuck out of tonight."

She tried to keep up with everything he was saying to her and, while feeling a little lost between the strange words and his accent, seemed to get the gist of it. Everything else she'd figure out later. She felt a bit wary of the boys after coming so close to being mauled by them, she didn't really want to talk to any of them yet, preferring to just observe and learn instead.

With their work done for the day, she followed Gally and the rest of the builders to the middle of the glade. A huge pile of sticks and branches stood tall in a large patch of dirt near another, sandier circle of grassless earth. That must be what Newt was talking about when he said circle. She finally noticed the animal skull propped up on a pole in the middle of their pyre, and gave it a look of concern. Had she been thrown into some kind of cult?

Gally had ditched her as soon as he could, content with letting Newt babysit her for the rest of the evening. He was thoroughly annoyed that all his fears had come true. This girl was a menacing distraction even when she didn't mean to be, every single boy there just couldn't help themselves. He hoped to pass her off and make her someone else's problem as soon as possible, but for tonight he'd have to settle for taking his frustrations out in the circle.

She stayed on the fringes of the group of boys as they went about lighting their bonfire, too afraid of getting trapped in the middle of them. They seemed to settle in certain cliques around the fire. Some played handmade instruments, drums mostly, and some danced with great flips thrown in. Over all though they were loud, rowdy, and dirty. She was distracted from her observations by a strange noise and turned to find the source. She had already noticed the extremely high walls that fenced them all in, but now she saw the door as it slowly and heavily shut for the night.

"That's the door to the maze," Newt explained when he saw her looking. All the other boys were used to it and ignored it completely. "Don't go in there at all."

She glanced at him, hearing the serious edge in his voice. It wasn't a suggestion; it was a command. She just nodded, not bothering to ask why yet. It's not that she wasn't curious or didn't have questions, she just didn't know how to ask these wild boys. All she knew was that she was in a dangerous world now and she wanted to tread lightly.

Newt didn't mind lingering around the edges near her, making sure she got some food and water, kept the rowdy boys away, sometimes talked with her and sometimes gave her some space to herself. He seemed nice enough and she was inclined to want to trust him, but she also knew it was too soon to let her guard down with anyone yet.

She watched them all carefully studying their behaviors and figuring out who she wanted to avoid. Her attention regularly drifted over to the circle where Gally was, his head towering over the other boys as they crowded around the circle to watch the fights. She assumed Gally kept winning as he was always in the ring, the fire light dancing on his sweaty face as he calmly brought down opponent after opponent. She wondered how he had the strength for it after the work he did in the day. She had to confess he'd grabbed her attention as soon as she she'd seen him, and he only got more interesting the more she observed.

"Can I ask.." Newt chimed in, drawing her attention away from the circle as he carefully sat beside her on a log. "Why did you pick the builders?"

She bit her lip and looked down. "Are you going to tell?" She asked him, afraid of her real reason getting back around to Gally.

"No, cross my heart," Newt promised, dragging his finger across his chest in an X.

"He can't stand me so I thought I'd be safest with him versus the other guys. He was worried about me distracting the other boys so I figured he'd stay on top of them and make them leave me alone," She admitted.

Newt pulled a face and nodded slowly, catching the eye of the builder over the other boy's heads for a split second. "That's pretty clever," he said. "So, you're just using him for protection."

"Yikes, when you put it like that it doesn't make me sound very nice," she chuckled, the sound bringing a smile to Newt's face.

"It's ok, I understand," he assured her. "I think you can count on him, and you can definitely count on me to help you out with anything."

She smiled appreciatively before a yawn overtook her. He noticed and offered to walk her to her room if she was ready to turn in, sparing her from having to ask him. As they left the bonfire behind them, they missed Gally losing his first round in the circle. Turns out he was not immune from distraction.


	4. Going Soft

She woke up the next day and cautiously poked her head out her door. Noise filtered in from outside the house, the rest of the residents clearly up and working already. She wandered the house until she found a bathroom, it was grubby and stained but she didn't have any other options. She washed her face and fixed her hair before venturing out to find Gally and figure out what she was doing today. It was a bit nerve wracking to walk out there all by herself, not knowing where her safe people were at and who she might encounter before she found them.

"Excuse me, Minho?" She called out to the first person she recognized.

He spun around at the sound of her voice, his eyes disappearing in a smile when they landed on her.

"Hey Greenie," he greeted her.

"Hi, have you seen Gally?" She asked as several boys walking by whistled at her.

"Uh, yeah. How about I take you to him?" Minho suggested as he eyed the boys sharply.

"Thanks," she sighed in relief. They walked in silence for a moment but it felt kind of awkward. "So, how come the new people can't try out being a runner when they get here?"

"It takes a lot of training," Minho shrugged. "You have to be fast enough, have enough endurance. And be able to memorize every turn you take so you don't get lost."

"Because the doors close every night?" She ventured.

"Well, that's part of it. You definitely don't want to get stuck in there when the doors close, that's for sure," Minho said, suddenly seeming uncomfortable.

She decided not to press him about it any further. "Well, I don't think I'm much of a runner, unfortunately" She said with a small laugh to lighten the mood and kind of change the subject a little.

Minho laughed in return. "That's alright. As much as I'd like to work with you, I think it's better you stay in here where it's safer."

Well, that was a clue, if he thought being the lone girl in a glade full of boys who'd never seen one before was safer than a maze. Finally, they got close enough to spot Gally and she thanked him for walking her. The contrast between Minho and his smiling eyes and Gally's cold stare was staggering.

"Nice of you to join us finally," he grunted as he checked his watch.

She bit back a scoff, wanting to remind him she didn't have an alarm clock or prior knowledge of when work started. "Sorry," She apologized instead. "Would it be possible for me to get a watch or something to help me be on time tomorrow?"

He just stared at her for a moment before sending a boy off to get her a watch, then gave her a task to work on. She was supposed to build a table and a chair since they were short a seat for eating meals now that they had two greenies at once. It seemed simple enough but she was still surprised that he left her to do it on her own, then she found that it was slightly more difficult than she'd anticipated. It took her a little longer to figure things out, but she only started a task once she'd reasoned it all out and found the smartest way to do it. Gally was not impressed by the time it took her to accomplish it.

She was a little disheartened by his attitude and feared he could use that as an excuse to kick her off of his team. Luckily, she found a way to earn some redemption points. She over heard two other builders complain about not being able to reach something they were supposed to repair. She took the risk of approaching them and offering to help since she was smaller. She managed to fit into the cramped space under the kitchen sink and repair the pipe with just their verbal instructions. Sure, they had made some bad jokes about pipes at her expense but she ignored it and focused on getting the work done, just glad they were at least keeping their hands to themselves.

At the end of the day Alby had a little meeting with the builders, listening to Gally vent every complaint he had against her and try to convince Alby to keep her off the builder's team while she stood stoically beside him, waiting for a moment to speak up.

"So, I didn't do a bad job, I just didn't do it as fast as you wanted me to?" She asked for clarification.

Gally's face hardened as he realized that was the only real complaint he could make against her.

"Well, that's great!" she smiled, trying to make it seem genuine and not too smug. "If I'm already doing things right, I'll only get faster with practice. That's good, huh?"

"She's smaller too," One of the boys she'd helped piped up. "She could be really useful for hard-to-reach places."

Gally glared at him.

"Let's think about this for a second," Alby said, running a hand over his face. "She can't be a runner, and she can't be a bagger, I doubt she wants to be a slicer-" She emphatically shook her head in agreement at that. "So that just leaves the builders, the cooks, the track hoe's, and the med jacks."

"Perfect, there's only two med jacks as is, they need her more than I do," Gally piped up, his shoulders lowering in relief.

"We can't have idiots faking or causing injuries just to go spend time with her," Alby told Gally under his breath but she heard him anyway. "Let's try this, let's keep her on rotation with the builders, gardeners, and cooks. When the builders need her help, they can take her on for the day."

She tried to think of who she'd be working with that way, finally piecing together that it would put her in the company of Newt and Frypan. Newt was high on her list of safe people but she wasn't quite so sure about Frypan just yet.

"Good that," Gally reluctantly agreed.

The first time she got to work the kitchens with Frypan and the other cooks was interesting to say the least. Seeing how food was prone to either burning or being undercooked enough to kill someone, cooking was a very high speed, demanding activity and Frypan was a perfectionist. After a few hours of her flinching every time he jostled by her or grabbed her hand to demonstrate how to flip an omelet, he finally leveled with her.

"Listen Greenie," he said as he tossed a towel over his shoulder. "I'm just trying to run my kitchen here; I'm not trying to be fresh with you. I get why you're jumpy, but honestly you don't have to worry about me."

"I don't?" she asked, wondering what he meant by that.

"No, you're too skinny, you couldn't handle all this," he said as he held his arms up and spun in a circle. He was almost as big as Gally but a bit softer around the edges.

The way he'd told his joke didn't strike her as offensive the way some of the other boys came across so she smiled at him. From then on she didn't have any problems being around him and they got along as well as she did with Newt.

Gally still seemed to have big problems with her, acting extra grumpy whenever she joined the builders for a day. It didn't bother her as much as the boys who whistled at her, called her 'Girly' instead of greenie, yelled obscene things or confessions of love at her from across the glade. In fact, she almost looked forward to being around him since he was one of the few boys who didn't tip toe around her feelings, assuring her that not all the boys loved her just for being a girl. Occasionally he'd teach her something and talk to her like a normal person, not making a big deal of their genders at all. Those were her favorite moments, especially if she earned some form of praise from him for a job well done. It was always genuine and he never tacked on something stupid like 'for a girl'. And if she got something wrong, he was sure to let her know it.

One day she was up on a ladder, fixing the clothes line when one of the sloppers decided to goof around and nudge the ladder.

"Please don't do that," she requested as she grabbed the ladder with both hands, dropping her tool and the clothesline. They laughed as she came down and collected them again.

She got back up on the ladder and was nearly done, just testing that the wheel spun and the clothesline would move along smoothly when she felt a stinging slap on her backside, the sound of it seeming to echo off the walls of the glade as she lost her balance out of sheer surprise and felt herself falling. She didn't go far, strong arms caught her and she looked up to see the red and angry face of Gally. He set her down somewhat gently before getting after the boys, his yells definitely echoing off the walls, the runners in the maze were probably the only ones who didn't hear him.

She just stood there hugging herself as the adrenaline from the fall finally started to ebb away, leaving only the lingering sensations of Gally's arms around her. As she stared at his broad back between her and the other boys something finally clicked in her mind. He finished chewing the sloppers out and told them to get lost before he turned to check on her, finding her staring at him in a daze.

"You ok?" he asked her, brows scrunched in concern. He wondered if his hands might have gone where they shouldn't when he caught her. He was too mad at the sloppers for being so reckless around anyone on a ladder he hadn't thought much of it till just then, but he should have since he'd heard the words 'don't touch me' come from her often enough. "Listen, I just didn't want you to get hurt, I'm... sorry for touching you-"

"Nikola," she blurted, confusing him more. "I remembered my name. It's Nikola."

"Oh," Was all he said at first. "Congratulations?" He didn't know what else to say.

"Thanks," She responded, not seeming to notice how awkward they were being. "A-and thanks for helping me." She added.

"Yeah, no problem," He shrugged, the usual harsh edge to his voice was missing. "Um, we're not too busy today if you want to take off work early." He offered.

"Oh, ok. Thanks," she nodded before going to grab the ladder and her tools to put them away, still seeming dazed.

"I'll get that," he said as he grabbed up the ladder, folding it up and propping it next to him, his niceness throwing her off slightly as she just stared at him for a second. He remembered how weird it felt in your mind when you finally remembered your name, and she'd taken longer than most to do it too, so he'd bet anything she'd like some time to herself.

"Thanks, Gally," the words came out softly before she hesitantly turned and started going toward the house. She was a few paces away when he called after her.

"Nikola, right?"

She turned, her big eyes looking straight into his before she nodded, lightly biting her lips.

"I'll remember that," he nodded before picking up the ladder and walking off. Once he figured he was far enough away he shook his head at himself, wondering when he got so soft. Still, he managed to walk tall, a secret pride in his chest that he'd been the first to know what her name was, and first to say it aloud.


	5. Just Joking

Newt was the second one to learn her name followed by Frypan, but otherwise she kept it to herself. Even when it had circulated the glade and most everyone knew she'd remembered her name, she was still mostly called 'Girly' still. Newt had gotten accustomed to calling her Greenie but caught himself every time he slipped up. Frypan still called her any manner of nickname he could come up with in the moment, just friendly teasing. She didn't mind it since that was just how they got along. But Gally never messed it up, even when she would overhear him talking to other boys. 'Nikola has the hammer.' 'Take that to Nikola.' 'Tell Nikola to hurry the shuck up.'

He seemed to have calmed down significantly and she thought they might even become friends in time. The only thing she didn't understand was why he still let boys make whatever comments they wanted around her, something Newt and Frypan didn't tolerate. There was one day where she didn't feel as thick skinned as usual, and to make matters worse, the boys were in rare form when she reported for builder duty. By the end of the day, she'd had more than she could take. She knew she couldn't let them see her cry so she walked toward the maze doors since no one really went over there. There was a patch of tall grass and she sat down in it, making sure it could hide her from view before she broke down into tears.

Her weeks there had caught up to her. She was exhausted from being on guard all the time. Newt and Fry were almost good enough at emotional support, but they were still boys who just couldn't grasp what she was going through even when they tried their best. She felt like some kind of alien. Once she'd run out of heavy, shoulder shaking sobs, she tried to compose herself again, wiping her face and trying to breathe normally even as she sniffled slightly. Then she heard the footsteps. She figured it would be Newt coming to check on her.

"What are you doing?" Gally's voice was not the one she'd been expecting to hear and she couldn't help how quickly she jerked her head to look up at him. His confused expression went slack in shock when he saw that she'd been crying. He uncrossed his arms and knelt by her side as she tried to hide her face from him again, making him dip his head to the side to try and peer at her. "What happened?" he asked her, his voice softer than she'd ever heard it before.

She felt finger tips gently settle on her shoulder, the slightest touch feeling like a thousand pounds since she wasn't often touched at all. It brought some comfort to her.

"Hey, hey, look at me," He coaxed her. She turned to him but wouldn't hold his gaze for more than a second at a time. "What happened?" That time he sounded a bit more like his demanding self, wanting to know who he needed to go punch in the face. "Did someone hurt you?"

"No, nothing happened," she shook her head with a sniffle and wiped her nose, wishing he of all people hadn't seen her in her moment of weakness.

"You don't have to lie to me. If someone did something to you, you can tell me," He pressed.

She was surprised to hear him talking like Newt- like he actually gave a shuck about her, and felt like he wasn't going to drop this without some kind of explanation. So, she decided to open up a bit.

"It wasn't any one thing that happened, it wasn't any one person's fault," she began, fiddling with a blade of grass in her hands to distract her from his intense gaze on her. "I can usually put up with the comments the boys make about me, but today it was just harder for some reason."

"They're just being idiots, I thought it didn't bother you," he stated which earned him a sharp look from those usually doll like eyes of hers. It was startling.

"Gally, it's terrifying!" She informed him, her emotions finally getting the better of her. "Every single boy here is stronger than me, any one of them could force me to do any one of those disgusting things they threaten me with on a daily basis. You know how nobody can beat you in that stupid circle? What if everyone was bigger and stronger than you and there wasn't a single one you could beat, then imagine they're all cannibals 'joking' everyday about how they're going to eat you. How safe would you feel?"

His eyebrows shot up at that. He hadn't thought of it that way before, but it certainly got the point across.  
"Nikola, I had no idea that's what it was like for you," He admitted. "I'm sorry."

"Yeah, well," she shrugged. "Not much I can do about it."

He stayed there with her in silence for a few more minutes, her words running through his mind as he put it all together. He hadn't given it a lot of thought at the time, but he realized just how much verbal abuse she really was going through. 

"And it happens when you're working the kitchen and the gardens too? Everywhere?" he asked.

She shook her head. "Newt and Frypan told them to knock it off so much at first that they don't try it when they're around. Which is why I try to keep them around as much as possible."

That's when Gally realized that he had let her down. As the Keeper of the builders he could have been keeping them in line, but instead he let them run loose at her expense. He was the reason she was crying today. 

"Why don't you tell them off yourself?" he asked her as he felt the guilt settle in his bones. That earned a downright disbelieving look from her.

"Yeah, you've heard what they want to do to me when I haven't done anything to them, I imagine it'll only get better if I upset them," She rolled her eyes. Usually she forced herself to be more patient with the boys, Gally especially, but she couldn't quite hold it in right then.

Gally was finally understanding what life was like for her now and it didn't sit well with him at all. When she finally felt well enough to get up and go get dinner, Gally followed closely, sticking by her as he'd seen Newt do so often. When they got close to the kitchen some boys noticed them and chuckled.

"Wow. Gally and the Girly huh? Did he make you cry? Was it from too much, or not enough?" One asked before they fell into a fit of laughter and high fives. And then suddenly Gally was there, looming over them.

"Shut your shucking mouths," He warned them in a low voice.

"Awe, come on man!" Their laughter now carried a nervous edge to it. "We're just joking around."

"Joking?" Gally raised his eyebrows, his shoulders rolling back as he shrugged at them. "Just joking, alright. Look at her. Is she laughing?" 

The whole Glade had fallen silent as everyone tuned into the show Gally was putting on. 

When the boy barely glanced at her and didn't say anything Gally bent down to look him in the eye. "Is she laughing?" he repeated.

"No," the boy finally answered quietly.

"No," Gally confirmed. "She's not laughing, so it's not funny." His eyes roamed over the other boys in the group. 

"What's the big deal, you never cared what we said before-" 

"Yeah, and?" Gally nodded as he crossed his arms, eyeing the boy. "I'm telling you now, you're done."

After that, the harassment virtually stopped altogether. Of course, a new set of problems came from that, though. Everyone seemed to think Nikola had some kind of arrangement with Gally, that he was receiving something in exchange for protecting her. Some of the boys seemed upset at the thought of her being unavailable. The fact that Gally now regularly sat at her table during meals seemed to just confirm their suspicions.

While she hated their implications, she didn't mind having Gally become her friend. Newt would even get him to tell stories about the good times they'd managed to have, or crazy stories about adding on to the homestead. She liked listening to them talk, especially this softer, friendlier side of Gally. They made her laugh for the first time, a real, loud, uncontrollable laugh, and they both stopped in their tracks to listen to her do it. Of course, they had to ham it up to get her to continue to laugh. When Gally cracked a smile for the first time she felt her breath hitch in her throat. She was so used to his scowls and displeased faces that she had no idea how well a smile suited him. She wanted to figure out how she could make him do that more often.


	6. Time Together

The next box day came faster than she expected it to, and the boys were more excited than usual, talk going around the glade about the chance of getting another girl. Nikola half hoped there would be another girl so she'd have someone to bear part of her burden with her, but that seemed a cruel hope to have. As it was, their greenie was a very young boy, according to Gally he was the youngest boy they'd ever gotten. 

The poor thing was frightened out of his mind, Newt and Nikola spent a good hour or two just calming him down enough to get him out of the box. They tried to give him a tour but he just wasn't up for it and spent most of the day crying. He was fast asleep by the time the bonfire started and Nikola had to leave him to get some dinner, talking Frypan into setting something aside for the kid for when he woke up. She was soon found by Gally who seemed more interested in hanging out with her than in fighting in the circle that night. That meant other boys were having a blast in fair fights that changed opponents on both sides more regularly.

"What is that stuff anyway?" She asked Gally, nodding to the cup in his hand as he sat with her by the fire.

He shook his head with a tight-lipped smile. "I don't even know."

"But you make it," she laughed.

"Which is why I'm telling you now that you should never ever drink any of it."

"Yeah, Newt already warned me," she said, hugging her knees as she sat against the log. "Are you not going to fight tonight?"

He shook his head. "Nah, not in the mood."

"Are you ok?" she asked, leaning her cheek against her knee as she turned and looked at him.

He got a quick glance of the fire light dancing on her skin and looked back into his cup before shrugging. It struck him as odd, her question. No one really asked anyone if they were ok, it was usually phrased more like 'what's the matter with you?' Even if you found another glader crying you just pretended they weren't. It gave the distinct impression that she was worried about his abnormal behavior, and he didn't know how to deal with someone caring about him. What would he do? Tell her every little stupid though in his head?

"What are you two being so serious about over here?" Newt asked as he came and sat on her other side, spilling a bit of his drink in the process.

Minho also showed up on Gally's side absolutely bewildered by the fact that Gally wasn't sparring on bonfire night for the first time in years. 

"Tonight was the night I planned on finally kicking your butt!" Minho complained, bringing a hand down on his shoulder.

Nikola snorted, knowing no one could get the better of Gally. 

"You don't stand a chance!" Newt scoffed. "Nikola is the only hope we have."

She spun around and looked at him in surprise as he sipped his drink, pulling a face as it burned his throat. "Me?" She squeaked, drawing her brows together in confusion.

"Absolutely," Newt nodded. "You're scrappy. I can tell just from looking at you."

"If I had money, I'd pay to watch that fight," Minho said with a far off look in his eye like he was trying to imagine it.

"What do you think?" Newt asked as he leaned in closer to her and eyed the very quiet builder in their midst. "How would you take him down?"

"Why would I do that?" She asked him. "Gally's nice."

Gally almost choked on his drink and Newt and Minho fell to laughter. Out of all the things Gally had been called, 'nice' was not one of them. He wondered what the shuck he had done to give her that impression. Even now she was looking reproachfully at Newt and Minho for laughing. Gally's face felt hot.

"Shut up," She rolled her eyes and lightly shoved Newt away from her. 

"No, no, seriously," Newt said as he calmed down from his fit of laughter. "I just want to know that you can handle yourself if you have to. Come here."

Newt got up and beckoned her and Gally to play along. Gally wasn't planning on going along with anything until he saw Nikola get up, brushing the dust from her jeans. Begrudgingly he followed, setting his drink safely beside the log. He'd been having a pleasant time before Newt and Minho showed up.

"Alright now, face each other," Newt said as he had a hand on each of their shoulders. 

Gally seemed to fixate on the fact that Newt was touching her. Not only that but she seemed ok with it.

"Alright, so if this was coming at you, what would you do?" Newt asked her as he gestured to Gally, towering a whole head taller than her.

"Look busy," She answered with a small smile, earning the smallest of smirks from Gally.

"Oh, for Pete's sake," Newt groaned. "Alright, imagine I'm coming at you ready to shake the ever-loving tar out of you for being so annoying."

She giggled at his choice of words. "First I'm going to whack you in the throat," she answered, giving a light sideways karate chop across his Adams apple. "And when your hands go to your throat, I'm going to break your nose." She used the heel of her palm in an upward motion, just grazing Newt's nose. "And while your eyes fill with tears I will run away!"

She turned and jogged around to the other side of the bonfire, hidden from their view, for a moment before coming around the other side. Newt and Minho were whooping some nonsense about her being just as scrappy as they thought, but her eyes had locked on Gally's and she barely heard them. He seemed to have this half smile on his face as he looked at her and his brows were relaxed. He looked less serious and maybe even a little bit happy. 

"I think I need another drink," Newt announced after he calmed down. "The new greenie had me feeling bloody sad today."

Nikola noticed that most boys seemed more drunk than they were at the last bonfire and felt a bit uneasy. Gally seemed to notice this as well. He waited for Newt and Minho to get a bit farther away before he looked back at her.

"Um, whenever you're ready to go, just let me know and I'll... I'll make sure you get to your room safely," he told her as he shoved his hands into his pockets.

"Yeah, I should probably turn in before they get too rowdy," She agreed. 

They found themselves walking slower than usual together as the light and the noise died down behind them.

"So, what do you think of my technique?" She asked him. "Is it effective?"

He chuckled. "It could do in a pinch, I think. Do you want to practice it?"

"I don't want to hit you!" she repeated.

"You won't really hurt me," his smile gleamed even in the low light. "Come on I'll show you." 

They spent almost an hour in the dark together, Gally holding his palm in front of his throat and having her hit it instead, showing her what to do if he were to try and block her. He held up his fist for her to pretend was an assailant's nose, her tiny palm ramming into it over and over again. At one point they were getting kind of goofy and it was hard to see in the dark. Nikola missed his hand and accidentally karate chopped him on the chin.

"Oh no!" she cried. "I'm sorry! Are you ok?" She asked even though he was chuckling at her.

He felt her hands cup his chin and her fingers brush by his bottom lip. It was a simple touch, just out of concern that she'd hurt him accidentally, but it set off a jolt of electricity through his whole body. The only time anyone touched him outside of trying to clean his clock in the circle were the med jacks who patched up any injuries he got. Very few times had he been touched in a way that didn't cause pain. He was so surprised he couldn't even answer her question, he just stared down into her eyes as they shined in the faint light. She realized what she was doing and slowly slid her fingers from his skin, releasing him somewhat reluctantly. 

"Sorry," She whispered again.

It's ok," he told her.

He walked her to her room after that, waiting in the hall until he heard the lock slide into place, and then he leaned against the wall and quietly released a sigh as he slid downto the floor. He was shucked.


	7. Friends

Nikola lay in her bed, eyes wide open as the crickets chirped outside. She couldn't explain the feeling inside her, like some weight was lifted off her chest. She hadn't realized that she could have so much fun, and with the boy who couldn't stand her at first no less. Where had this side of Gally been the whole time? She lifted her sheet to cover her smile. She wasn't falling asleep anytime soon.

The sounds of the bonfire had faded long ago and it made her think. She hadn't ever been outside at night, not alone at least. On any night that wasn't a bonfire night, every one turned in early so they could rise with the sun and get all their chores done in the daylight. She thought how delightful it would be to walk around alone in a quiet glade and look at the stars, no boys to bug her. Feeling giddy, she put her shoes on and draped her blanket over her shoulders, clutching her pillow in front of her. She went to her door and slowly unlocked it so it wouldn't make a sound.

She tiptoed down the hallway, trying to remember where all the creaky boards were, and then was out the door. She wasn't expecting it to look the way it did and stood frozen for a moment, taking it in. The moon was brighter than expected and somehow made the glade glow blue. She smiled at the otherworldliness of it. The breeze lightly ruffled the grass and trees, carrying the cricket's songs, the only noise to be heard. Her eyes landed on the watchtower and she grinned, looking around for signs of anyone being up, but didn't see anyone.

She took her time crossing the glade, reveling in the freedom and peace, before carefully climbing the tower. She planned to lay up there and watch the stars until she finally felt tired. She set down her pillow and spread her blanket, folding one half over her as she lay down, keeping the breeze off her skin. The stars were shining brighter than she imagined they could. There were more spattered up there than she thought there would be, and it made the sky feel closer, as if the heavens were leaning in to peer back at her.

She looked at the maze walls, blackness lining the tops of each one. There were no lights in the maze or outside of it. There seemed to be no light pollution at all, which meant there were no cities nearby. It suddenly made her feel more alone.

"Nikola?" a whisper drifted through the air almost making her jump out of her skin.

She sat up and saw Gally just peeking over the top of the ladder. He rested his arm on the edge and dropped his forehead down onto it for a second as he took a breath.

"W-what are you doing?" He asked her in a tense whisper when he lifted his head again, his brows drawn together like she hadn't seen them before. "You looked like a shucking ghost or something walking through the glade, you scared the shuck out of me."

She almost laughed at that, giving a small snort before uttering an apology as he came the rest of the way up and sat across from her.

"Do you know how dangerous it is for you to be out here all alone like this?" He asked her, his demeanor so different than it was just a few hours ago. He seemed genuinely upset with her and she felt that weight on her chest return. "What are you doing out here?"

Suddenly the joy and freedom she felt seemed foolish, what she had done was pretty risky. What if someone else had found her up there instead of Gally? She was too ashamed to meet his eyes.

"You're right, this was a dumb idea," she admitted with a shake of her head as she gathered up her pillow.

"Whoa, wait," he raised his hand to stop her. "What were you doing?" he repeated.

She settled back to a sitting position and looked at him briefly. "I just... I couldn't sleep and I thought everyone else would be asleep. I thought it would be safe for me to just walk around and not have to worry about anything or anyone. And I never really had the chance to look at the stars that much."

He ran his hand over his face. "You're lucky I found you and not someone else," he muttered into his palm mostly to himself before sighing. "Well, I couldn't sleep either," the moonlight hid his blush. "So, I'll wait for you down below, you look at the stars for 10 minutes and then I'll get you back to your room."

Nikola couldn't decide if he was being sweet or stingy, she felt like stargazing wasn't something you could put a time limit on.

"Or," she blurted when he started to get up. "You could look at the stars with me?"

Oh lord, had she really just said that? Had she just asked the biggest, toughest guy in the glade to watch the stars with her?

"Alright," he agreed with a sigh as he lay a few feet away from her, putting his hands under his head as he stared up at the sky.

She was shocked he had agreed at all, let alone so quickly and with no argument. She eased back down slowly as if she might spook him. She looked at the stars again now believing they had some hand in this turn of events. For a while her own heart beat drowned out the sounds of the crickets and the breeze, her mind blaring a single message. GALLY IS LAYING BESIDE YOU! It was like some kind of proximity alert that wouldn't shut up. Even though she was freaking out a bit, it wasn't like she felt unsafe, which was weird. She figured even Chuck was probably stronger than her, so why wasn't she worried about the strongest boy being close to her alone in the dark? Was it because she knew him well enough to know he wouldn't do anything at all? Or because she wouldn't mind it if he did do something?

That thought caused her the most concern as her eyes widened, sharing a desperate look with the sky about what the heck was going on. She couldn't have- no of course not. It had only been a month, right? She glanced over at Gally carefully. His brows were still furrowed. His skin was bathed in that blue glow of moonlight, his freckles appearing a shade darker, almost matching the constellations in the sky. Could she have-?

"Why did you say I was nice?" He blurted out of nowhere startling her out of her wild thoughts.

"Uh, what?" She tried to get her mind to focus on reality again and figure out what he was talking about.

"With Newt and Minho. You said I was nice, and I know I'm not. Especially not to you," He said to the sky, mumbling the last part with a bit of shame and regret. 

"Well, eh, ye-" she made a series of unsure noises, the answer not being so simple. "Look," she finally settled as she also looked back at the sky to make this conversation easier. "I know that this whole ecosystem here takes a lot of maintenance to keep it from collapsing into anarchy, and my arrival really threw a wrench in it. I get that. And you were right, I'm a distraction and I require a lot of accommodation-"

"But that's not your fault, you didn't ask to be here," He pointed out.

"Oh, you realize that now?" She blurted with a smile. "Thank you. I was waiting to see how long that took," she teased him. 

"Slim it," She heard him chuckle and looked over so she wouldn't miss the smile on his face.

"But seriously, I do think you're nice," she went on. "You may not have been thrilled with me at first but at least you never proclaimed your undying love for me or threatened to join in me in the shower sometime or acted like everything I did was just fine before going back and fixing it all later. When you talk to me it's like it's not even an issue that I'm a girl, I'm just a person. You teach me what to do, and then you either tell me I did a good job or that I'm doing it absolutely wrong and 'pay attention this time,'" she tried to imitate his teaching style and got another chuckle from him that she couldn't miss.

"Your standards of nice are so low," he commented with a smile, making her giggle as well. The weight was off her chest again, feeling lighter than ever. 

"But we get along now, right?" she asked hopefully. "We're friends?"

He turned and looked over at her. Her dark blue eyes seemed black in the darkness, catching the reflection of the moon. He swallowed as his heart hammered against his ribs. "Yeah. We're friends."


	8. Daisy

Gally sat at a table with Newt and Chuck, the latest greenie. Chuck had been following Nikola like a second shadow which meant he'd been around Gally plenty as well and had kind of idolized him, making the builder quite uneasy. Nikola had been working in the kitchen that day and finally came out with her own dish when they were practically finished eating already. She untied her hair from the top knot she put it in to keep hair out of the food, her long locks unwinding and falling down her back in soft waves as she sat down. And words were suddenly spilling out of Newt's mouth.

"You know, you're so beautiful, Nikola," Newt said with a hint of reverence in his voice.

She looked at him in shock as a blush crept up her neck.

"Oh, come on," She waved him off after an awkward pause. "I'm just the only girl you've ever seen." She chuckled nervously, her shoulders starting to hunch up. "One day we'll either have more girls here, or we'll get out and you'll find a whole world full of them and realize I'm not that great."

"No, there's no chance of that happening," Newt assured her with a small smile, his gaze on her was intense and she found herself struggling to look him in the eye for the first time.

Gally was so confused at what was going on, his eyes flicking between Newt and Nikola. Was Nikola blushing because she liked Newt, or was she just embarrassed? Since when did Newt say stuff like that? He glanced at Chuck to gauge his reaction to this strange exchange but the kid was blissfully ignorant to the awkwardness around him.

"Come on Newt," Zart called after him. "Back to work."

"See ya," Newt sighed before getting up and leaving.

Gally watched Nikola bite her lips, a worried look crossing her face before she ran her hands over it. He felt like asking what the heck that was or asking if she was ok, but the whole thing had struck him dumb and he didn't know what to say.

"You are very pretty," Chuck agreed nonchalantly as if he just caught up with the conversation. "Just like I bet my mom is."

Gally was so lost in thought later as he was working; he nearly smashed his thumb with a hammer. As much as Newt's sudden confession had bothered him, there was something Nikola had said that didn't sit right with him either. It took him a good portion of the afternoon and a few near misses for him to finally figure it out.

Nikola sat on the counter of the kitchen, something Frypan frowned heavily upon but he wasn't around to scold her, as she dried dishes from lunch. There was a thud behind her and a hand came into her field of vison, reaching from behind her and holding a single daisy. She recognized the hand, finger nails bitten to the quick and couldn't help the small smile that tugged at her lips. She turned to see Gally sitting on the counter behind her, his ears bright red as he looked out at the glade instead of at her. Gently she took the small flower from him, her fingertips brushing his.

"Do you think it's pretty?" he asked, still looking at anything but her.

"Yes?" She answered with a hint of confusion as she twirled the stem between her finger and thumb.

Finally, he looked her dead in the eyes, not wavering a bit. "Did you have to see every other flower to decide that one is pretty?"

Her jaw dropped slightly, surprised by how well he illustrated that. She didn't know what to say to it, but somehow she liked it a lot better than what Newt had told her in the first place. She figured most of the boys liked her simply because she was all they had and all they knew. She didn't think any of them would pick her if they had more options. After a moment or two of her stunned silence Gally gave a slight smile before he slid off the counter and got back to work. She stared after him, wondering what he meant by that. Was he trying to help Newt? Or was he trying to tell her that he thought she was pretty?

She put the flower in her hair and wore it there the rest of the day, noticing when it would catch Gally's eye and he would almost smile.


	9. Glader in Shining Armor

If there was one saving grace in the glade for Nikola it came in the form a particularly dumb black lab named Bark. Even though he was stinky, she would turn to him whenever she had the urge to hug or touch another living thing. Obviously, anarchy would descend upon the already high-strung population of the glade if she tried to get any kind of affection from one of them. 

It was a particularly warm day when she found the poor thing panting in the shade, covered in dirt from trying to dig up a cool spot to lay in. She rubbed behind his ears and told him how good he was, kissing his head and muzzle when she looked around and saw no one around to judge her. She took him over to the showers, attaching a short bit of hose to one of the nozzles so he could play in the water. 

They were having a good time when two of the baggers came by. There was something about the baggers that creeped her out even more than the slicers. They seemed to skulk around in the shadows and not talk much at all, but these two were not so antisocial.

"What I wouldn't give to be that dog, eh?" One said quietly to the other but she still heard them.

"Sorry, did you want to use the showers?" She asked them, trying to sound like she wasn't afraid in the slightest. "Because I can go."

"Nah, I think we'd like you to stay," the taller one said as he walked toward her. He was skinny but muscles still bulged from his slender frame like coiled ropes.

"It's ok, I can go," she stated and tried to hurry and walk away, but he blocked her path.

"And I said I'd like for you to stay," he repeated as he loomed over her, trying to back her up toward the showers. "Things are different when you don't have Gally around to protect you, huh? He's obviously fallen down on his job today, look at you out here all by yourself. Since he didn't earn his keep, why don't you give me his payment today instead?"

"I don't know what you're talking about," She shook her head. "I work like all the other builders do. He doesn't protect me in exchange for anything, he's my friend."

The boys laughed at that. "She sounds like she really believes that," the taller one commented to the other boy before turning back to her. "You really think anyone here is your friend, that they're really just good to you out of the kindness of their hearts? Are you stupid? They're all trying to win you over and get something in return, and they've definitely thought about you the way I'm thinking about you right now."

She felt dirty from the way he looked her up and down, his tongue flicking across his bottom lip. As much as she wanted to believe what he was saying was a lie, she couldn't, doubt had slipped into her mind when Newt had called her beautiful. He had been acting just a little bit different ever since. It was hard to start having to be careful around someone she'd believed was safe for so long. 

"So why not give me a little of that attention instead of wasting it on this mangey old dog," he said before giving the poor dog a mild kick, causing him to yelp.

"Don't do that!" she demanded, pushing him away from her as she felt the anger rise. She knew instantly that she'd made a mistake, she never should have put her hands on him.

He only went a step back, obviously stronger than her, and laughed. "You saw that, she put her hands on me first. I get to claim self defense now," his voice ended in a growl as he placed his hands on her chest and pushed her to the ground.

Gally had been sitting with Chuck, worn down by his constant pestering, and was trying to help him out so one day he might be able to join the ranks of builders instead of just being a slopper. He'd given the kid a knife and was watching him as he tried to whittle a small chunk of wood left over from one of the building projects. That's when he heard the dog barking. He'd been barking playfully earlier, but this was different and Gally couldn't help but think something was really wrong. Immediately he stood up and looked around for Nikola, his heart plummeting when he didn't see her.

"Chuck, help me look for Nikola," he said urgently as he patted the kid's shoulder to get his attention.

"I saw her playing with Bark earlier," Chuck said as he put his things aside and got up.

Speaking of the dog, Gally saw him appear at the tree line, barking urgently as he held up one of his paws. Gally took off in a dead sprint, Bark turning tail to lead the way. He followed the dog to the showers where he saw some one standing by a shower stall and another crouched inside. And then he noticed her feet. Luckily with the dog making such a racket they didn't hear him coming. He grabbed the kid who was standing and threw him against the stall wall before grabbing the other guy by the shoulders of his shirt and dragging him away from the showers as far as he could before he broke free of his grip and staggered to his feet. Gally glanced away for a second, looking to see if Nikola was moving, that's when the guy, Shawn, rushed him. Gally dodged the punch he threw and hit him with an upper cut, sending him staggering back. He had to get over to her to see if she was alright. He jogged over to see her laying on the floor of the shower, shirt ripped and drenched as the water kept running. Her eyes were closed and she wasn't moving.

"Gally!" Chuck's voice called and Gally turned in time to see Shawn coming for him again.

"Get help!" Gally yelled at him. Before Shawn's fist connected with his face.

He threw strategy to the wind, just trying to land the hardest hit he could to knock Shawn down for good so he could help Nikola. His plan was thwarted by Shawn's side kick finally getting up and coming into the fray as well. Gally could win one on one with anyone in the Glade, in the circle where there were rules, but they weren't in the circle and they weren't playing by any rules. Gally was too angry to lose and the cost was too high, so when Chuck arrived with help, they were mostly concerned with making sure Gally didn't murder the two baggers. Clint and Jeff went straight to Nikola as Minho and Frypan tried to pull Gally off of Shawn.

They had gotten a few licks in and Gally wiped blood from his mouth, feeling a black eye starting to swell. He broke free of Minho and Frypan, rushing over to check on Nikola. Clint had his hand over his fist and gave a sharp press to her abdomen right below where her ribs met. Her body jerked upward and water spewed from her mouth with a sickening gurgle. Clint and Jeff helped her turn over as she coughed and retched more water from her lungs and even her stomach.

"Is she ok?" Gally asked them desperately as she gasped for air. 

"I think she'll be ok," Clint nodded. "She's conscious at least so that's a good sign. I'll know a little more when she can tell us what happened."

She was on her elbows and knees, coughing and gasping as Jeff patted her back.

"Or we can ask these guys," Gally said as he stormed up to Shawn, Gladers blocking his path so he couldn't start beating on him again. "What did you do to her?" Gally yelled.

Shawn knelt in the dirt, doubled over and clutching his gut, but he looked up and smiled at Gally with bloodstained teeth. That in itself was enough to make Gally try for another go at him. 

"He pushed her down," his accomplice spoke up tentatively over the scuffle of boys holding Gally back yet again. "Then he shoved the hose in her mouth."

Many a livid glare was directed at Shawn then but none so fearsome as Gally's, the latter cursing him out with every vile word he knew. He only stopped when he heard Nikola's raspy voice. She was sitting up on her own and not coughing so much, but she was trying to get Clint and Jeff away from her. He didn't know if she was disoriented and didn't realize it wasn't Shawn touching her, or if she just really didn't want anybody's hands on her. Gally rushed over to her. 

"Nikola, hey. Look at me," Gally knelt in front of her as she pasted herself into the corner of the shower stall, Clint and Jeff retreating out of his way. He didn't touch her as he tried to gain her attention. The shoulder of her shirt was torn and exposed skin and undergarments that had yet to see daylight in the glade, but he kept his eyes on her face. "Look at me."

Finally, those stormy blue eyes locked onto his and a look of recognition flashed across them. "Gally?" She noticed his bruising eye and split lip with confusion.

"You're ok now, you're safe," he assured her softly. "I'm not going to let anyone hurt you, ok? I just want to take you to your room. Can I do that?" He extended his hand to her slowly.

She looked from his hand to his face as tears sprang to her eyes. She moved toward him, bypassing his hand altogether and wrapped her wet and shaking arms around his shoulders. He froze. As much as he could remember, he'd never been hugged before, and he'd only been this close to her once when she fell off the ladder which was light and fleeting compared to the way she was clinging to him now. He wondered how she had such a change of heart, begging for others to get away from her just to pull him as close as humanly possible. Her touch was like fire, burning his skin wherever she made contact with him and her hot breath on his shoulder threatened his own ability to breathe.

"Come on, let's get you out of here," He whispered in the crook of her neck as he scooped her up, the beating his face had taken obscuring the crimson blush across his cheeks. 

Boys sprang out of his way as he carried her toward the house, her wet clothes dripping a trail behind them, flanked by Newt, Frypan and Chuck. Alby's angry voice rose behind them before falling fainter the further they got. 

"There'll be a meeting," Newt said, his voice dark but even.

"A meeting for what?" Chuck asked as he scampered to keep up with the strides of the taller boys.

"To punish Shawn for what he did to Nikola," Frypan answered him flatly but not unkindly, and Gally felt her fingers press harder against him. 

"I take it we're thinking the same thing," Newt ventured. Gally's silence was a sufficient answer.

The builder was too afraid to speak with Nikola in his arms, sure he would yell and curse and become the next boy she wouldn't allow to touch her. From Newt's tone he gathered that they were both in favor of the same punishment and would back each other up in the meeting. They would vote for banishment.

Gally didn't say anything until he had set Nikola down on her bed, her arms unwrapping from his shoulders a bit hesitantly. He pulled back and looked at her reddened eyes, pushing back a tendril of hair from her face without much thought. She didn't flinch. 

"Nikola, can you tell me what happened?" He asked softly as he crouched in front of her.

Her eyes stared down into his as Newt grabbed a blanket and draped it gently around her shoulders.

"I... I was just playing with the dog," she shook her head in confusion. "I thought they wanted to use the showers so I tried to leave, but they wouldn't let me. He said I should give him attention instead of the dog and then he kicked poor Bark. I got angry and I tried to push him away- I knew it was dumb but I did it." She bit her lip and shook her head. "He put his hands on my... and he pushed me down."

Gally felt a burning hot flash of anger scorch his skin as her hands pulled the blanket closed across her breasts, his jaw clenched to keep him silent.

"Every time I tried to get up he would push me or throw me down, he tore my shirt, and then he had me cornered in the shower and shoved the hose down my throat-" Her voice cracked with new tears as she remembered how scared she was. "I thought I was going to drown!" She sobbed, edging toward him.

He gently took her small, cold fingers in his large, warm hand, his knuckles bloody, to try and assure her she was ok now. Then, feeling like he was on the verge of tears himself, he let go and stood up abruptly to grab Chuck by the shoulders and forcefully move him to the end of her bed.

"Chuck, you're going to stay here and make sure she's ok until I get back. Can you do that?" He asked the kid, bent slightly to look him in the eyes, eyes that were wide in surprise.

"Me? I can't stay in her room," the kid pointed out in a whisper as his cheeks turned pink. His innocence was exactly why Gally would only trust him. If not for young, sweet, little slinthead Chuck, Gally would have had to cart Nikola to the meeting with him.

"You have to make sure she's ok while I'm gone. Make sure she doesn't pass out or throw up anymore," Gally instructed him. "You're only going to open that door for me, or Clint and Jeff if she needs help. Do you understand?"

Chuck's brows slowly came down from their surprised arch and set into a determined look as he nodded. He would be her protector. "I understand."

"Good," Gally said to him before straightening up and turning to Newt and Frypan. "Let's go."

The meeting was tense to say the least. Shawn sat in the center, his wounds still untreated, squashed like a bug under the weight of Gally's hate filled gaze. 

"I say we banish this shank," Gally declared as soon as he stepped foot in the room, hushed conversations going dead silent. He was dirty and bloody, a wet spot from carrying Nikola made his shirt cling to his body

"Whoa, we haven't even heard his side of things yet," Winston spoke up, earning a deadly glare from both Gally and Newt that shut him up. 

"What the shuck does that mean?" Gally questioned, his voice rising in anger. "You think he had a good reason to hold down a girl half his size and shove a hose down her throat?"

Winston sheepishly avoided his fiery gaze, realizing how dumb it sounded now.

"Maybe I did," Shawn spoke up, pulling Gally's attention squarely on him. "Maybe I was sick of you having her all to yourself."

Gally blinked at him from beneath his furrowed brows as if he had heard wrong, murmurs rising again.

"What did you say, slinthead?" Gally asked. 

"Oh, come on," Shawn drawled, rolling his eyes dramatically. "You really baby her the way you do without getting anything in return? Please..."

Minho had to stop Gally before he could cross the space and strangle the boy.

"We all agreed when she got here that no one was to touch her," Minho reminded the room as he kept a hand firmly on Gally's chest till the taller boy realized he was on his side. "The keepers especially have followed that rule. The simple fact is that Nikola is a glader, and our rules state that you cannot harm another glader. What Shawn did was more than defend himself, he was bigger and stronger and what he did was intentionally violent. I also vote we banish him."

That was four decided votes for banishment. Two more votes would make a majority.

"But, hear me out real quick," Zart said, putting up a hand. "If the situation were different and she had made a move on him, and he broke the rules about touching her even if she was into it, we wouldn't banish anyone for that, would we?"

Gally's brows furrowed even deeper at the sheer stupidity of what he was saying but Newt jumped in before he could say anything himself.

"But that's not what happened at all!" Newt reminded them. "Shawn almost killed her today, it doesn't matter what led up to it, it's wrong. You'd be singing a different tune if that hose had been down your throat, I'm sure of it."

"I get that, I'm just saying," Zart tried to salvage himself. "If she'd gone along with it then we'd be putting him in the slammer for the night instead of the maze."

Gally couldn't believe his ears. "What kind of shucked up-" his sentence dropped off as he crossed the room and pulled Zart to his feet, Gally's hand grasping his belt buckle. "Why don't you just go along with it for me then, huh?" Gally asked, bring his face close to Zart's as boys jumped in to separate them, Zart going red with surprise and embarrassment. "Why don't you just drop em and bend over for me so I don't get banished and I can spend one night in the slammer before coming for you again, huh?" Gally yelled as the boys ganged up and finally pried them apart.

It had been an awkward and embarrassing thing to do, but Gally had made his point so well that even Zart voted for banishment by the end of the meeting. Shawn sat in silence, his head bowed under the weight of the sentence. His accomplice hadn't done anything to Nikola himself but also hadn't stopped it either. He got sentenced to a week in the slammer and reassigned to the slicers so he'd be far away from Nikola during most hours of the day. Gally would have banished them both and he felt like even level headed Newt agreed with him. Shawn was led to the slammer to wait until the door closed that evening, and Gally went with Newt to check on Nikola. 

She was resting, listening to Chuck prattle on about everything and nothing as he did his best to distract her from her thoughts. Neither Gally or Newt told her about Shawn getting banished, they just assured her that everything was going to be ok and that she was safe. Frypan brought her food and as the hour grew near for the maze door to close, they insisted that she rest and excused themselves.

"Gally?" her voice called after him before he'd quite made it out the door. Newt looked between them for a second before his eyes found the floor and he disappeared down the hall.

"Yeah?" Gally asked as he hovered in her doorway, feeling self-conscious about how she was looking at him.

She was merely taking in the cuts and bruises on his face and knuckles, putting it together that he was the only one that had injuries like this. "Thank you for saving me," she told him, her eyes and voice filled with gratitude. 

Biting his lips, he looked down. "Any time."


	10. Crossed Lines

The keepers had come to the decision that Shawn should be banished and they were confident in that decision. However, they could not reasonably convince every glader to share their point of view. Lord knows Gally couldn't handle giving one of his demonstrations to each and every boy who didn't have enough common sense to reason it out on their own. Nikola was now the talk of the glade for a very different reason. 

She'd only learned about the banishment after it had happened. Her first feeling was that of relief that she wouldn't have to see Shawn ever again in their small world, but that very feeling also sickened her and she promptly vomited. It was bad enough that she could convince herself that it was her fault someone was dead at the merciless jaws of the grievers, but the murmurs of blame around her only made it worse. Gally, Newt, and Frypan, her closest friends, seemed far too relaxed about the whole thing, not doubting the justice of their actions whatsoever and tried to ease her guilt by telling her there was no reason to have it in the first place. But she did.

Life was even more unbearable for her then on. Who knew she'd miss the lustful stares and crude remarks she used to receive? They seemed infinitely better than the dark looks and cruel words. Even as an innocent victim, she had proven that having a girl in the glade could get someone killed. She was dangerous. She was tipping them from order to anarchy. And what was worse is she had dragged Gally down with her. Boys who used to be his friends or were too scared to ever say anything about him before were now full of venom and gossip. That was the part she really struggled with, ruining Gally's well oiled machine of a life.

The shift in attitudes around the glade had Gally even more on edge than he naturally was and he kept a closer eye on Nikola, and if he wasn't around then he made sure Newt or Fry were. So, when another box day rolled around, Gally was extra intimidating to the Greenie. It was easy, the new one was even more annoying than all the others combined.

The first thing the Greenie did after Gally chucked him out of the box was make a break for it. The boys whooped and hollered, impressed by his speed, till he tripped and did a monumental face plant. They threw him in the slammer to calm down a bit before Alby personally came to give him the tour. Gally kept one eye on him, making sure he stayed away from Nikola. Newt came over to them saying Alby was looking for Chuck.

"Looks like the last Greenie is gonna take care of the new one," Gally commented, trying to give a semi proud look to the kid.

Nikola smiled at him encouragingly and he scampered after Newt to help, her face falling as soon as he was gone. Gally noticed of course. He also noticed after a while that the Greenie was getting closer and closer to the maze doors despite Chuck trying to stop him multiple times. There wasn't much the poor kid could do being smaller and younger, and Gally didn't want him getting in any trouble.

"Hey!" Gally yelled as he charged over, getting the new guys attention before shoving him so hard he went flying through the air, landing about a yard away from where he'd been standing a moment ago. Chuck had backed off as soon as he'd seen Gally coming.

"We gotta stop meeting like this Greenie," Gally said as he towered over the boy in the dirt.

"Get off me!" The boy snapped as he scrambled to get to his feet again.

Gally tried to stand between him and the maze doors to keep him from running through them. "Calm, calm, calm." He repeated as he nervously glanced in Nikola's direction as more boys gathered around them.

"Why won't you tell me what's out there?" The greenie was demanding of Newt and Alby right before a gust of wind whipped through the door, a heavy mechanical grinding echoing through the glade as the doors began to close.

"Next time," Gally said as he came up beside the stunned greenie. "I'm gonna let you leave."

He walked by and nodded for Chuck to come along with him, Frypan ruffling the kids hair as they went.

"I'm sorry, I tried to stop him," Chuck said ardently to Gally.

"I know, it's ok."

There was a bonfire that night, the night things started going to hell in a handbasket. Gally was in the circle, making sure the greenie would know he couldn't be messed with. Newt had been talking to him for a while, Frypan keeping an eye on Nikola for the time being. Gally fended off his opponent who tumbled out of the circle and accidentally crashed into the back of someone's legs. Gally looked up and saw the green bean staring back at him like he'd taken offense.

"What do you say, Greenie?" Gally asked as he breathed hard. "Want to see what you're made of?"

The other gladers began a to chant, 'greenie, greenie,' but Gally didn't join in. He wasn't trying to taunt the new guy, it was a simple invitation to join in. When the chant reached peak volume Gally motioned him into the circle, standing across from him as the boys gathered round. He made sure he saw Nikola safely with Fry and Newt before giving the greenie his full attention.

"Alright, the rules are simple, Greenie" Gally began to explain as he adjusted the cuff on his arm and began pacing the edge of the circle. "I try to push you out of the circle, and you try to last longer than five seconds." The boys around them chuckled at that.

"You ready?" Gally asked.

The greenie had barely nodded by the time Gally charged him, grabbing his shoulders and easily knocking him into Zart and Jeff behind him. They roared with laughter as they caught him and bounced him back into the circle. Gally grabbed at his back and gave him some more forward momentum until he fell on his face, knocking the wind out of him before he tasted sand.

"Come on, Greenie. We're not done yet," Gally said when the boy looked up at him from his sprawled position. He bounced back to the edge of the circle, shaking his arms as he got pumped up for a fresh challenge.

"Stop calling me Greenie," he complained as he got up and pulled his shirt down, earning a round of ooh's from the gladers.

"Stop calling you that?" Gally repeated, raising his brows. "What do you want to be called? Shank?"

The boys, including Chuck gave a hearty laugh at that. Nikola wasn't impressed with the behavior at first until she realized what he was doing. She hadn't remembered her name until she got knocked around a little, and the new kid seemed scared enough that distracting him with anger actually seemed to help him focus.

"What do you think boys? Does he look like a shank?" Gally asked, prompting the Greenie to charge at him this time, a brave but ultimately stupid move.

Gally grabbed him under the arms and twisted around once before throwing him to the ground again.

"You know what? I think I'm settled on Shank."

His words weren't kind but he never spoke with any more malice than if he'd been talking about the weather. Nikola gave up on ever understanding the ways of boys, shaking her head as she wandered off. Newt, Fry and Chuck were so engrossed in watching the fight, they didn't notice her sneak away and get into the booze. She'd decided that she would try drowning her own problems in it like all the boys got to.

The new guy rushed Gally, grabbing him low around the waist, but Gally was too big and too heavy and soon was pushing him back across the sand. Then suddenly he had a lucky shot. With a sidestep and a push Gally was the one eating sand. The gladers whooped in surprise and delight as Gally stayed down, stunned. He had a reputation to uphold if he was ever going to protect Nikola.

"Not bad for a greenie, huh?" he was saying even as Gally flipped over and kicked his legs out from under him, causing him to fall so hard he couldn't brace for it and hit his head on the hard ground.

Gally got up and stared down at him while he groaned and winced. Then came a whisper.

"Thomas."

Everyone shut up as the greenie sat up, repeating the name.  
"Hey! Thomas!" He said as he looked around with a manic little chuckle. Gally took a step back from him and glanced around for Nikola.

"I remember my name! I'm Thomas!" he cried out, tapping a hand to his chest.

Gally didn't see Nikola with Chuck or Fry and began to feel worried.

The boys had gathered around the greenie, Thomas now, congratulating and welcoming him. 

"Good job," Gally said, giving him a quick handshake. "Thomas."

And then he slipped through the crowd. He spotted her near the kitchen with Newt as the latter tried to take something from her hands. She was drinking his crappy booze! What was she thinking? He steamed toward Nikola as she tried in vain to get another drink, Newt thwarting her every attempt. Without a second thought as to how it might make her feel, Gally grabbed her and threw her over his shoulder before marching off toward the house, no one but Newt around to witness it as all the others were busy with Thomas.

"What the shuck are you doing?" his voice was an enraged whisper. "Huh? What do you think you're doing, Nikola?"

"What everyone else gets to do," she stated simply as she bounced with each angry step he took. "drink and forget for one night."

"Do you have any idea how dangerous that is for you to do?" he questioned as he carried her along.

"Yeah, my whole life here is dangerous, Gally," she shot back. "Especially now that I'm blamed for getting someone killed, and everyone thinks I exchange sex for favors!" she gave a humorless chuckle as they approached the house. 

"How much did you drink?" He demanded as he hauled her through the door.

"Just one cup," she sounded disappointed, sliding off his shoulder as he set her down inside the house, grabbing her arm to haul her down the hallway and finally into her room.

He released her before running his hands down his face in a tired way. "I'm just trying to keep you safe, Nikola. That's all I want to do," he sighed as his eyes pleaded with her. "Please, don't make it more difficult than it already is."

She had already convinced herself that the only way the glade would know peace- that Gally would know peace, is if she were gone. Secretly she planned to go into the maze as soon as the chance arose, the next morning when everyone was sleeping off their hangovers seemed a good opportunity. 

She looked up at Gally, her friend, and remembered that night they spent stargazing. Part of her wanted to know why she wasn't afraid of being alone with him, to know if she actually wanted something more from him. She told herself it wouldn't matter in the long run and, feeling a bit braver from the small amount of alcohol she'd managed to consume, she did something bold for the first time. She stepped right up to Gally, her hand slipping around the back of his neck and pulling him down as she went on her tiptoes. 

He froze for an instant when her lips met his, an explosion of heat from his chest branched out till it heated his skin, but it wasn't anger he felt this time. The pressure of her lips on his started to recede and he was no longer frozen. His arms swiftly wrapped around her, one around her waist pulling her body flush against his, the other hand tangled in her hair, cradling her neck as he brought her lips back to his. They moved against hers feverishly, stealing kiss after kiss. After a moment of surprise on her part she had wrapped her arms around him and pressed her small hands against his strong back. He took a few steps farther into the room in an impossible effort to get closer to her. When their lips parted for a much-needed breath, his skin was burning with a new emotion: Shame. It crashed on him like a maze wall.

Gally reeled back as he realized what he had done. He had taken advantage of her, forced more onto her than she'd asked for. She had been drinking, she may not even know what she was doing. And he realized just how long he had wanted to do that, how badly he wanted to still be doing that and more even now. He was no different from all the other boys there and now she would never feel safe with him again just as sure as she'd been awkward with Newt when he'd called her beautiful.

"Gally?" her eyes were heavy lidded as she looked up at him, her hands gripping his shirt at the waist to try and keep him close to her, to continue what they had finally started, but he turned away and ripped himself from her grasp. 

The door slammed shut behind him and even in her shock and confusion she heard it lock. She rushed over and tried to open her own door, pulling with all her strength as she tried the lock over and over, her heart pounding as tears stung her eyes.

"Gally!" She cried out, banging on the door. "Gally, please! I'm sorry! Please, come back!"

She kept it up till her throat went raw and she was sure he wasn't coming back for her. She curled up on her bed and cried harder than ever. Kissing him and being kissed in return had felt better than she ever imagined it could have, which made it hurt that much worse to have him pull away and leave her without a word, not even able to look at her that he locked her in her room to keep her away from him. She didn't know that he was right on the other side of her door, his back pressed to the wall as he sat on the floor once again, crying for the first time he could remember.

After her sobs abated and Gally felt like his face looked normal enough to venture out of the house again, he went straight to Alby. They had a long talk about things in the glade and how they needed to be handled.


	11. Another Banishment

Alby woke up Thomas before everyone else the next day and had a talk with him. He recognized that Thomas was different than most boys who showed up there, he was curious, but he needed to respect the importance of order. After that he spent the day in the gardens with Zart and Newt, the latter assuring the curious boy that all his ideas had been tried already. Twice. He convinced him that the only way to be useful was to pull his weight around the glade.

Nikola was still locked in her room. She wasn't surprised or even that upset about it at first, but then she had to pee.

"Hello!" She called loudly, banging on her own door to no avail. She turned around and looked at the window. "Oh, Nikola, you idiot," she mumbled before making her way over to it. It stuck at first, the wood old and warped as the house settled in the warm climate of the glade, but with tremendous effort she got it open far enough to shimmy out of it, falling ungracefully to the ground below.

She didn't want anyone to catch her until she'd at least gone to the bathroom, so instead of going around the house and back in to the one inside, she snuck off behind the house and into the woods to use one of the outhouses instead. They were absolutely vile and she hated them, but she had to go. She reached them without anyone noticing her, maybe they had no idea she'd been imprisoned and therefore didn't care even if they did see her about.

Finally relieved, she decided to sneak to the kitchen for some food, and maybe talk to Frypan. He was the only one she could talk to about what happened. She couldn't talk to Gally, that was for sure, and she got the feeling Newt wouldn't appreciate hearing what she'd done. That left Fry and Chuck, and Chuck would be out of his depth in matters of the heart. As she made her way toward the kitchen, something unexpected happened.

Shouts came from the woods behind her and she stopped, turning to see Thomas running full speed toward her. He was screaming for help as Ben pursued him. When he spotted her it was too late to lead Ben away so he grabbed her arm and dragged her along with him as he ran. Ben tackled Thomas from behind and rolled on the grass.

"Ben!" Nikola yelled as she grabbed the straps of his runners pack and pulled with all her might. "Stop!" She wasn't able to budge him an inch but she finally noticed the black veins under his skin as he attacked Thomas with a feral rage. She kept trying to talk to him and pull his arms away from strangling the new boy, earning a harsh back hand from him that knocked her on her butt in the grass.

"I'll kill you!" Ben yelled as he choked Thomas, other boys running from every direction.

Newt came with a shovel and hit Ben across the face with it, knocking him off of Thomas, and then Gally was there, holding him down and telling him to calm down. He gave Nikola a brief but sharp look.

"What happened?!" Frypan cried as he helped Nikola up and pulled her away from the commotion.

Chuck was by Thomas's side as he coughed and fought to catch his breath. "I don't know!" he gasped. "He just attacked me!"

Alby walked up and Ben's demeanor changed. "No, please, no," he begged pitifully, a far cry from the death threats he'd spat at Thomas just seconds ago.

"Lift his shirt," Alby demanded.

His pale skin was exposed along with a circular wound that had black tendrils branching off from it. Nikola covered her mouth in shock and Gally shared a bewildered look with Newt.

"He's been stung?" He said to Newt before turning to Alby who crouched by his side. "In the middle of the day?"

Alby was silent for a second before he stood up. "Put him in the pit."

"No!" Ben yelled as Newt and Gally fought to hold him down still.

"Calm down, Ben!" Gally said as he fought to grip his arm. It took four others to help him and Newt pick up the thrashing runner and carry him off to the pit. He caught one fleeting glance of Nikola as Frypan checked the mark Ben had left on her frightened face. He wondered how she had got out and how she had the worst timing in the world. 

She followed after Alby, Chuck and Thomas, desperate for answers as to what just happened. She sat by Chuck as Alby explained the changing that happens after someone gets stung. An infection spreads in their body making them dangerous. No one had explained this to her before, they figured it would never affect her so why scare her unnecessarily.

"What did he say to you?" Alby asked him.

Thomas was hesitant and nervous, but he told him the truth. "He said he...saw me. That this was my fault...How could this be my fault?"

Alby didn't answer him, just patted his shoulder and told him to get some rest before he got up and walked away.

"Alby!" Thomas called. "What's going to happen to him?"

Nikola was there for another banishment. At least this one wasn't her fault. Ben was pleading with Minho as he hauled him toward the maze doors, the Keeper's eyes were not the happy crescents she was used to seeing. Gally saw her standing a ways away and caught her eye. He nodded toward the house, silently telling her to leave, not wanting her to see this. She stayed rooted to her spot. 

She watched as her friends, Newt, Gally and even Frypan as well as the others ushered Ben through the closing maze doors, his screams echoing across the glade before the doors sealed him on the other side. Such was the price of order. Gally stared at her as he walked past, the keepers going to mark Ben's name off the wall. He had been worried about her safety before, and now it was only getting worse. Especially since she was acting out against everything he did to protect her.

For her part, she tried her best to console Minho who'd just lost his running buddy, and then willingly locked herself back in her room till the next day.


	12. The Meeting

Nikola only ventured out late that morning when she was too hungry to stand it anymore. As she crossed the field toward the kitchen she heard the thunder. The wind whipped her hair over her shoulders as rain drops fell on her skin. She paused, putting her hands out to feel the first rain she'd ever seen in the glade. It was almost enough to make her forget her troubles and the pain in her heart. Then Newt was running toward her as best he could.

"Nikola," he said, slightly out of breath when he stopped in front of her, rain drops falling in his fluffy blond hair. "Alby's gone into the maze," he informed her seriously.

"Why?" she asked as her brows knot in confusion. 

"They're trying to figure out how Ben got stung," Newt answered.

"Hey!" A familiar gruff voice called. "Why don't you get out of the rain." Gally called as he leaned in the doorway of a shack close by.

Newt gently touched her elbow to lead her to shelter, noticing her downcast eyes. "You and Gally have a falling out?" he asked.

"I guess so," She sighed.

"I hope it's nothing permanent," Newt tried to joke but noticed her somber face. "Gally has always been serious and a bit grumpy, but he doesn't hold grudges forever. I'm sure whatever it is can be worked out."

She felt a pang in her gut. She couldn't convince the gladers that she hadn't been in some kind of sex for favors relationship with Gally and clear his name, she couldn't even banish herself like she'd wanted to with the way everyone watched her now. It was not as simple as Newt made it sound.

The rain eventually abated and still no sign of Minho or Alby. Everyone gathered at the maze door when it was minutes away from closing, hoping they'd return. Nikola watched from a distance, as she was getting accustomed to doing, when something shocking happened. Thomas pointed into the maze and a second later all the boys were yelling. They yelled and yelled as the doors began to close, and then suddenly Thomas was gone.

It was a long night. Most everyone stayed by the doors, sleeping where they sat or where they fell. Newt had asked Nikola to stay in her room that night, no matter how curious she was.

"It's not like the doors will open any sooner than usual just because we camp out in front of them," he told her. Still, he was one of the ones who stayed. 

When morning came and Chuck woke everyone as the doors began to open, it was like nothing had happened at all. The maze was how it always was, empty.

"I told you, Chuck," Newt sighed. "They're not coming back." 

Chuck still hung back as everyone else walked away, still clinging to some hope that things would be different. Zart looked back after him and noticed something just past him.

"No way," The keeper said under his breath as he walked back toward Chuck.

The kid followed his line of sight and saw Minho and Thomas coming toward them, carrying Alby, and cheered.

News reached Gally and the rest of the glade. Without Alby there to take the lead, Newt and Gally called the meeting, all the gladers coming in to hear what was going on now.

"Things are changing," Gally said as he stood before the restless crowd, Nikola tucked quietly in the back of the room. "There's no denying that. First, Ben get's stung in broad daylight," he started off, skipping over Nikola's arrival completely. "And then Alby. And now our greenie here has taken it upon himself to go into the maze," gone was the nicety of calling him by his name as he spoke in a slightly derisive tone. "Which is a clear violation of our rules here."

"Yeah," Frypan spoke up softly. "But he did save Alby's life," he pointed out as he stood behind Newt.

"Did he?" Gally questioned with raised brows, earning a wary look from Newt. "For three years we have coexisted with these things, and now," he turned and pointed at Thomas. "You've killed one of them." He turned back toward the gladers with upturned palms. "Who knows what that could mean for us."

"Well, what do you suggest we do?" Newt asked, seeming to be merely humoring him and not really asking for his guidance. 

Gally shrugged. "He has to be punished."

That earned some unhappy grumbles from the crowd around him. 

"Minho," Newt called over them as he looked past Gally to the keeper of the runners. "You were there with him, what do you think?"

He was quiet as all eyes turned to him, silently waiting for his answer.

"I think," he sighed. "In all the time we've been here, no one's ever killed a griever before," he agreed. "When I turned tail and ran...this dumb shank," he gestured to Thomas. "Stayed behind to help Alby. Look, I don't know if he's brave, or stupid, but whatever it is we need more of it. I say we make him a runner."

That got everyone riled up. Gally was raising his voice above the others again, saying they could throw the newbie a parade if they wanted, but there was one thing he knew about the maze. What that was, they never found out because a sound echoed across the glade outside earning everyone's attention. The box was coming.


	13. The Last One Ever

Nikola had been closest to the door and was the first one out, not wanting to be trampled by the boys, and also not wanting to miss out on what was happening like she missed out on that morning's events. She started across the field, Newt passing her in a wobbly sprint before a strong hand gripped her arm, pulling her back.

"Stay here," Gally told her coldly before running off to catch up with Newt.

She frowned as Chuck, Thomas, and Minho stopped beside her. 

"I know that sound.." Thomas muttered.

"The box," Chuck said as he looked at Minho. "It's coming back up."

"It shouldn't be!" Minho said before taking off after the others.

Nikola followed with Chuck, not letting Gally be the boss of her. She saw Gally and Newt share a look as they hesitated at the edge of the box before opening it. Newt hopped down while Gally stayed firmly rooted up top.

"What is it Newt?" Someone asked as Nikola tried to peer over shoulders.

"It's another girl," Newt answered, making her eyes go wide.

She felt Gally's eyes on her and looked up, meeting them for a moment before he turned away, causing the bottom of her stomach to plunge. He still hated her.

"I think she's dead?" Newt was saying.

"What's in her hand?" Gally asked.

Newt bent over and gently pulled the piece of paper from her hand, reading five simple words. "She's the last one...ever," he looked up at them questioningly. "What does that m-"

He was cut off when the girl came to, gasping for breath, startling everyone. "Thomas," she breathed before passing out again, her bright blue eyes closing.

Everyone looked at Thomas who blushed.

"Still think I'm overreacting?" Gally asked with one raised brow.

They put another bed in Nikola's room and moved the girl there, Clint and Jeff watching over her as Nikola helped however she could. Newt, Minho and Thomas came to check on her, Gally strangely absent. Nikola overheard their conversation and how Newt's voice was trying so hard to speak with authority but every now and then a tremor would run through it. They were worried about the box not bringing any new supplies and how long they'd be able to last that way. Newt didn't want to worry about anything like that just yet, instead holding out hope that the girl would have some answers when she woke up. Thomas didn't seem to be a fan of that plan.

It wasn't apparent right then, but the glade had become divided. Thomas was set on going back into the maze to see the dead griever again, to possibly get some answers. Minho didn't like the sound of that at all.

"The runners all quit this morning," Nikola over heard Minho say when she stepped outside, eavesdropping. She followed Minho's gaze to the other runners and saw them shaking hands with Gally, an odd mix of company in her opinion. 

Her curiosity and boredom got the best of her as she followed them. Minho collected Frypan, Winston, and Zart and met back up with Thomas behind the house. They all set off toward the maze but Nikola stepped out from her hiding place and grabbed Frypan.

"Fry, what are you doing?" She asked him as the others stopped a ways ahead and waited for a moment.

"Nikola," He used her name which meant this was serious. "I have to do this. It could help us get out of here. Don't you want to get out of here?"

She stared at him as she bit her lip, looked back at the others, and then released his arm. "Just promise me you'll be careful," she said, poking him in the chest. "You're one of the few friends I have around here."

"I promise," Fry smiled, patting her shoulder and catching up with the others.

They returned surprisingly fast, Nikola having waited for them by the doors the whole time. She felt Gally and Newt watching her, but neither approached. There was an odd tension between those two ever since Thomas and Minho came back from their night in the maze. The keepers got together to discuss what they'd found in the maze and she listened through the thin walls from outside.

"These are the same letters we get on our supplies," Newt said, a lilt of confusion in his voice.

"It's obvious whoever put us here, made the grievers," Thomas supplied.

That knocked her for a loop. The supplies always seemed like benevolent gifts, it was difficult to think that the people who cared for them and the people who tortured them could be one and the same. 

"we gotta go back out there," Thomas was saying when she tuned back in to the conversation. "Who knows where this might lead us."

There was a long silent lull before Gally calmly broke the silence. "You see what he's trying to do, right?" he asked. "First he breaks our rules then he tries to convince us to abandon them totally?" his voice began to rise slightly. "The rules are the only thing that have been keeping us together, why now are we questioning that? If Alby was here you know he'd agree with me. This shank... needs to be punished."

Gally was desperate. If rules as big as 'never go into the maze' could be broken with no consequence, other rules would be dropped as well. He didn't want to think of what that could mean for Nikola. They needed the same order and stability they had before, but no matter how hard Gally fought to keep it, it seemed to slip through his fingers like sand. And things were just about to get worse.

"You're right," Newt said after an even longer pause. "Thomas broke the rules. One night in the pit with no food."

"Oh, come on Newt!" Gally burst. "One night in the pit- y-you think that's going to stop him from going into the maze?"

"No," Newt answered curtly. "And we can't just have non-runners running into the maze whenever they feel like it. So, let's just make this official. Starting from tomorrow, you're a runner."

Nikola's brows shot up in surprise. It became very clear right in that moment how different Newt and Gally actually were. Newt was a runner at heart and viewed the maze as something to solve and escape. Gally was a builder, it was his job to make the glade a home. They would never see things the same way. Gally burst from the doorway, Frypan following after him. Nikola stayed put, knowing there was nothing she could do for Gally or anyone. Except maybe the girl sleeping in her room. 

She returned to her room and told Clint and Jeff she could take things from there and she'd call them if she needed them. After all, Clint and Jeff were just assigned to be medjacks, it wasn't like they really knew much more than anyone else. They left and Nikola found herself alone with the new girl.

"There, I got rid of those stinky boys for you," Nikola smirked as she sat beside the bed.

The girl was really pretty with long dark hair, full lips, and a delicate nose. She was prettier than Nikola for sure. Part of her was glad, maybe she'd draw all the eyes away from Nikola, and she immediately felt guilty for it. She shouldn't wish on this new girl anything she'd gone through. 

"It's not going to be easy, living here, but I'll have your back," Nikola said, turning away for a second to grab a glass of water from the side table. When she turned back, she was met with cold blue eyes.

She was rewarded for her female solidarity with a punch to the nose, making her topple backwards from her seat as her eyes filled with tears and blood gushed down her face. She heard footsteps running away and tried to give chase, but could hardly see. She stumbled out of the house, hearing various shouts ring across the glade.

"Nikola?" She wasn't in so much pain that she didn't recognize that voice. She still couldn't really open her stinging eyes, but she knew it was Gally from his voice and his touch.

His hands grasped her shoulders then grabbed her wrists to look at her face.

"God," he muttered under his breath, her first clue as to how bad it actually was. "What happened?"

"She hit me!" Nikola's reply was muffled by her hands once more going to her face, having to turn and spit out the vile tasting blood that had gotten into her mouth.

Gally called for Clint and Jeff but they were nowhere to be found, luckily Chuck was nearby and answered the call instead. Gally enlisted him to care for Nikola while he went after the new girl in a rage. A rage that only intensified when the girl was found up on the look out tower hurling projectiles at anyone who came near, only stopping when Thomas arrived. She would only let him up, only speak to him.

"What's going on? Is she coming down?" Gally yelled up at him after a while, getting even more annoyed with the new guy, more convinced than ever that he was bad news and not their average green bean.

Thomas peered over the edge at him. "Just... just give us a minute."

And that's when Gally's dislike turned to hate.


	14. Resistance

Gally was going to collect Thomas for his night in the pit when he overheard a terrible commotion in the hut where they'd been keeping Alby. There was talk of a syringe and not knowing whether it would kill him or not. After Newt agreed to let them inject Alby, the leader came to, grabbing Thomas and yelling. It all happened so fast and went suddenly silent. Gally ventured in, his eyes sharply avoiding the new girl, and looked at Thomas.

"Sun down, Greenie," He said, not sounding as tough as he wanted to, still shaken by what he'd just heard. "Time to go."

He led Thomas across the glade by firelight, feeling even more determined to do anything to keep Thomas from shucking up their lives even more than he already had. If he had to get nasty to do it, so be it. Nikola might lose all respect for him, but at least she'd be safe. There was no peace without sacrifice.

"What is your problem with me?" Thomas asked him, earning an emotionless stare.

"Everything started going wrong the minute you showed up," Gally informed him as if he didn't know. "First Ben, then Alby... Now the girl. Everybody saw she recognized you. And I'm betting you know who she is."

Thomas didn't have anything to say to that. Gally opened up the pit and stood back for Thomas to go in, closing the barred door behind him and bending over to secure it closed.

"Gally," Thomas voiced called up to him. "Y-you know we can't stay here forever... right?"

Gally didn't say anything to that. Until Thomas had shown up, staying there forever didn't seem all that terrible if it meant they were safe. If staying there forever meant no one would be stung or killed by grievers, it seemed worth it to Gally. And he couldn't let Thomas jeopardize that for him or anyone else. He stood up silently and walked away.

Nikola had to spend that night with the new girl, Teresa, and she was not happy about it. She'd begged Newt to let her stay somewhere else, but one look from Gally and Newt was immovable on the subject, obviously not as all powerful as he'd seemed when he appointed Thomas a runner. So, Nikola lay there with an icepack on her swollen and bruised nose, trying not to fall asleep in case Teresa decided to finish her off. She felt like such an idiot for feeling guilty about the boys having someone else to lust after, she hoped for it now.

"Hey," Teresa spoke with a voice sweet like honey. "I'm sorry."

Nikola said nothing.

"I know we got off to a bad start, but I hope we can get along," Teresa tried hopefully.

"Listen," Nikola said from beneath her icepack, her voice more nasal than usual. "I've got a splitting headache and my face is sore, all thanks to you. So, if you don't mind, just shut up and leave me alone until morning. We can work it out then, alright?"

She heard Teresa chuckle lightly. "That's fair," she relented and Nikola heard her settle down into bed. "But you sound like that tall, angry boy."

Nikola's head throbbed harder as she willed herself not to cry at the thought of Gally. She closed her eyes tightly and tried to calm down. She thought of that fateful night, the one not that long ago that felt like forever ago, when she'd pressed her lips to his. His lips had been softer than she'd expected, and the way he held her... the way those lips moved with hers, she'd almost forgotten her name all over again. She just kept playing that in her head, never getting to the end where he'd pulled away, never got to him locking her in this very room, never got to him avoiding her. In her mind all they did was kiss.


	15. It All Falls Apart

The next day was a mess. Everyone could hear the racket clear from the glade. It sounded like the whole shucking maze was falling apart. Nikola had made a tentative peace with Teresa, but still kept her distance, the dull ache in her face not allowing for forgiveness just yet. Nikola sat with Alby despite Newt worrying what he might do to her if he woke up, but his worries were unfounded.

Alby did wake up, but he wasn't violent like he had been before. He seemed heartbroken. Everyone showed up to see him then, pushing Nikola into the corner again. Newt sat by Alby and asked if he was alright, but got no response. Thomas knelt in front of him and informed him they may have found a way out of the maze. That made Nikola's heart jump. Alby however, looked on the verge of tears.

"We can't," he whispered. "we can't leave... They won't let us."

A small motion caught Nikola's eye and she looked up to see Gally already staring at her.

"What are you talking about?" Thomas asked.

"I remember," Alby admitted, not looking anyone in the eye.

"What do you remember?" Thomas prompted him. 

Alby finally turned, his eyes coming back into focus as he looked Thomas dead in the face. "You."

Everyone was looking at Thomas now. 

"You were always their favorite, Thomas," Alby said with a strange smile, that gave Nikola chills. "Always."

There were shouts outside, faint at first but getting louder and more frequent until several people looked around.

"Why did you do this?" Alby went on, not noticing the commotion. "Why did you come here?" a single tear rolled down the cheek of the fearless leader of the glade.

Whether he was trying to get away from Alby or was just too concerned with what was going on outside, Thomas got up and left, the others following him except for Nikola who stayed with Alby as he cradled his head in his hands. She tried to calm and comfort him. Soon the glade was eerily silent, as if everyone had left. And a few moments after that, the loudest noise she'd ever heard ripped through the glade. Then it happened again, and again, three times in total. She told herself she was wrong, but it sounded like the maze door opening.

"Alby?" She asked, her voice a nervous trill. Her mouth went dry and she didn't know what to say after that.

She heard pounding footsteps and Gally burst into the room, red faced and terror stricken.

"The doors are open," he panted. "We have to hide. We have to go!"

She tried to get Alby to get up and come with them, but she couldn't get him to budge. That's when they heard the screams. Gally wasted no time, he grabbed her wrist and pulled her along, leaving Alby behind. 

"We can't leave Alby!" She cried as he pulled her through the woods almost faster than she could go. He didn't say anything in reply.

He led her to the box which still hadn't moved since Teresa arrived and lowered her into it as he watched his own back. He ushered more boys into it as well, before dropping in after them and pulling the cage doors shut over them. Nikola pressed herself into a dark corner and tried to catch her breath. 

"Stay down, stay down," Gally instructed everyone and they all hunkered down.

"Gally!" Someone screamed from outside. "Let me in! Let me in!"

Gally tried to open the door for him but as soon as he got close, a glinting metallic arm shot through the darkness and snatched him away as quick as a frog catches a fly. That was the first time Nikola saw fear written plainly on Gally. He came closer to her, standing in front of her as they listened to horrors going on above them. She didn't think, she just reached for his hand and felt him squeeze hers tightly.

As quickly as it started it seemed to end. The grievers roars retreated into the maze again. They waited a moment to be sure before throwing the doors open. Gally let go of her hand so he could get out, taking a look around. One of the boys tried to help her get out of the box but Gally stopped him.

"She comes out last," Gally told him as he scanned the glade around them for any sign of danger. The boys all got out and then Gally lifted Nikola out himself. He held on to her tightly as they looked for survivors. That is, until they found Thomas. Gally let her go simply to march over and punch Thomas in the face. Everyone was yelling but she heard Gally loud and clear.

"Look around Thomas, this is on you!"

Their buildings were in ruins, their glade was on fire, their friends were dead, and their home was gone.

"You heard what Alby said!" Gally shouted as the others held him back. He was fighting almost as ferally as Ben had after he'd been stung. "He's one of them! He's one of them! And they sent him here to destroy everything! And now he has! Look around Thomas! This is your fault."

Nikola didn't know what to believe. He heart went out to Gally, after all, it was the place he'd built with his own hands that had been destroyed that night, but she didn't know if Thomas was really to blame for what was going on. It felt like everything had been leading up to something like this for a long time. Surely no one would put a bunch of people in a maze and expect them to just grow old and die there.

She saw Thomas take something from Chuck's hand that glinted in the darkness, and crash it into his own leg. Everyone rushed to him, leaving Gally standing alone in shock.


	16. Living Hell

Gally took control of the glade after that. The first thing he did was lock Nikola in her room again, this time nailing the window shut. Then he gave everyone else the choice to either join him or get banished with Thomas at sundown. The friend she had made in Gally was gone; she saw that now. He had some desire to protect her it seemed, but she didn't know to what end. So, when Newt showed up to spring her out, intending for her to escape with the rest of them, it didn't take much convincing. Lord knows she couldn't stay with the stranger living behind the face of the only boy she cared about. 

They put her in baggy clothes and stuffed her long hair up in a cap before she followed Newt to the door. Frypan noticed them coming and used his body to hide her as well, hoping to slip Gally's notice. Her heart clenched at the sight of him tying up Thomas and Teresa. 

"Gally," Winston spoke up, earning a questioning stare from the builder. "It doesn't feel right, man."

"Yeah, what if Thomas is right?" Jeff seconded. "What if he can lead us home?"

"We are home," Gally stated, calmly but firmly. "Ok?" He walked around trying to appeal to them.

Frypan took a subtle step in front of Nikola to keep her out of sight still.

"I don't want to have to cross any more names of that wall," Gally said almost pleadingly.

"You really think banishing us is going to solve anything?" Teresa asked him.

Gally looked at her with a slight shake of his head. "No," he admitted.

Nikola almost went to him then, almost took his side, because she felt like he was just trying to keep everyone safe like he always had. He wasn't being cruel, he got no joy out of this, he was simply trying to keep people alive the only way he knew how. By sticking to what they had done when everything was running smoothly.

"This isn't a banishing," Gally went on and Nikola stayed where she was with Newt and Frypan. "It's an offering."

Nikola's blood ran cold. Where was the boy she knew? Where was the grumpy builder who taught her things and complained about her, where was the boy that sat with her at bonfire and taught her how to fight? Where was the boy who had given her a flower and kissed her like she was air and he was drowning?

"What?" Teresa cried as she was tied to a post. "What are you doing?"

"You really think I'm going to let Thomas back into the maze after what he's done?" Gally raised his voice before starting to plead with them again. "Look around you. Look at our glade," he gestured around as smoke still rose from ash heaps. "This is the only way."

Newt placed his hand on the small of Nikola's back to steady her, she was unaware that she was trembling until he did so. He had also used the opportunity to signal Minho. 

"And when the grievers get what they came here for, everything goes back to the way it was."

"Are you listening to this?" Teresa scoffed. "Why are you all just standing there? He's crazy."

Nikola felt her cheeks flush with anger. Part of her still sympathized with Gally, saw the logic of his reasoning, even if she didn't think what he was saying was possible.

"Shut up," Gally told her.

"If you stay here, the grievers are going to come back," She went on. "And they're going to keep coming back until you're all dead."

"Shut up!" Gally yelled at her then instructed for her and Thomas to be tied up.

As much as Nikola hated to say it, she felt like Teresa was right. Normal, however tantalizing, was long gone to them.

"Did you hear me? I said tie them up!" Gally repeated when no one moved.

Finally, two boys moved to pick up the unconscious Thomas, who wasn't unconscious at all. He struck the boys who had ahold of him, Newt hit one of the guards on the head causing him to blackout, and Minho held a blade to Gally's shoulder as Frypan cut Teresa loose. Nikola's heart was hammering in her chest, hoping that he wouldn't hurt Gally, she couldn't bear it.

Newt moved her along to stand with Thomas and Teresa, joined by Chuck, Minho and Frypan.

"You're full of surprises, aren't you?" Gally shrugged as he looked at Thomas, swallowing hard. He still hadn't made out that Nikola was even there, thinking her safely locked away. He wondered how safe he'd be able to keep her without being able to set things right. 

"You don't have to come with us, but we are leaving," Thomas said as he pointed a spear at Gally. 

Newt tried to pass Nikola a blade as Frypan had done for Teresa, but she refused to take it. She wasn't going to fight anyone. 

"Anyone else who wants to come, now's your last chance," Thomas said.

Gally raised a calming hand toward the boys behind him. "Don't listen to him, he's just trying to scare you, alri-"

"No, I'm not trying to scare you," Thomas talked over him. "You're already scared- I'm scared. But I'd rather risk my life out there than spend the rest of it in here... we don't belong here. This place? It isn't our home. We were put here; we were trapped here."

Nikola watched Gally's face change. He looked less convinced of his own plan, he looked younger and frightened. 

"We can make it out of here, I know that," Thomas said firmly.

Winston was the first to step forward, followed by many others. It hurt Nikola's heart to watch Gally as he watched them go in silence, but she hoped he might change his mind too and join them. She'd much rather run through the maze with him by her side than anyone else, and if she thought about how she'd never get to tell him about the outside world she probably wouldn't have left at all.

Gally looked behind him at the few gladers left with him, he bit his lips and nodded his head to himself, looking as though he might cry. Nikola took a step forward but Newt held her fast, giving her a glare from the corner of his eye. He knew that if Gally knew Nikola was there he'd kill someone, and probably end up getting killed as well. She tried very hard to keep herself from sobbing out loud, letting the tears run silently down her cheeks.

"Come with us," Thomas begged.

Gally looked broken, looked like he might waver.

"Good luck against the grievers," He said, making Nikola clamp her eyes shut and bite her lips to choke back a heavy sob.

Newt and Frypan had to drag her along to get her to come with them now, and once they were far enough away, she openly cried, throwing off her hat and leaving it behind. As soon as they had made it to the griever hole she regretted leaving at all. 

The fight was ugly. There were 13 of them when they entered the maze, and only 7 of them walking down the strange hallway to what they could only hope was freedom, the rest violently taken by the grievers.

"Seriously?" Frypan asked, looking down at Nikola when they stopped in front of a door with a glowing green exit sign. His joke, however relevant and relatable, did nothing to lighten her mood.

When Thomas stepped forward and opened the door, the sight on the other side made Nikola regret leaving all over again. A mist sprayed from the over head pipes, lights swung down from the ceiling, and dead bodies littered the floor as an alarm rang quietly in the room beyond. So much for freedom. So much for answers. Nikola looked back longingly at the door, thinking she might have a chance of returning to Gally, but Newt put his arm around her and kept her moving forward. Gally hadn't wanted her anyway.

"What happened here?" Minho asked in voice so frightened and unsure he sounded ten years younger. 

Bodies, blood, and broken glass were everywhere as they made their way forward down the hall. They passed windows into rooms where bodies lay on tables, covered with sheets like they were in a morgue. Newt tried to keep Nikola from looking, but there was no place safe for her eyes. Finally, the hall opened into a larger room. Computer screens lined the walls, some so full of bullet holes they didn't work at all, others just flickered garbled images of x-rays and brain scans and words, and fewer still actually worked properly. 

"So, they were watching us," Newt said as he looked at a monitor that showed them the glade. "The whole time."

Everyone moved around the room silently, looking for clues as to what happened here, when, and why. Nikola just sank into one of the rolling desk chairs in the room and held her still sore face in her hands. There was no telling what would happen to any of them now. The creators were dead, they couldn't send supplies to those left in the glade, what would happen to them? Would the doors ever close or would the grievers show up night after night, picking them all off as Teresa had said. She wished Gally had come, but even they hadn't really escaped yet. Her thoughts were interrupted when a woman's voice filled the room. She looked up to see a large monitor at the far side of the room light up and play a video.

"Hello, my name is Doctor Ava Paige," a severely sophisticated looking woman was saying. "I'm the director of operations at the World Catastrophe Killzone Department. If you're watching this, that means you've successfully completed the maze trials."

Successfully? Nikola looked around at the massacre around them, not feeling like this was a success at all. But still the words gave her some dim light of hope. She got up and looked at the monitors, trying to find one of the Glade that might show her what was happening right then. Surely from this room they could give them a message somehow, tell them it was safe to come through. Maybe Gally could get out still. But the monitors showed no one at all, just the glade, not looking like it missed them at all.

"I wish I could be there in person to congratulate you," the woman said in tone that made Nikola scoff, not believing she was sincere for a second. "But circumstances seem to have prevented it. I'm sure by now you all must be very confused."

Nikola tuned the woman out and kept looking for any sign of Gally on the monitors. She wouldn't see him there. She heard the woman go on about a scorch, a virus and a cure, trying to justify the things they had done. Nikola only looked up when she heard the woman say 'Wicked is good' followed by a gun shot. She saw Thomas flinch away from the screen, his eyes landing on something that drew him across the room. Nikola did not yet follow, still set on finding some way to help those left in the glade.

That's when she felt the hand on her waist. She knew that touch and her heart sprang in her chest as she turned, ready to see Gally. But when her eyes landed on his, her world shattered again. They were red and glassy, brimming with tears, and his skin was mottled red with dark veins beneath. He was holding her too tightly.

"Gally?" She breathed, placing a hand on his chest.

His face betrayed a struggle with anger and hurt and the poison in his veins.

"Why did you leave me?" He asked, his voice choked with emotion as he held her against him with one strong arm.

Her mouth hung open with no good answer. She only hoped they could find more of that stuff they'd used on Alby here somewhere. They could help Gally and he could leave with them. Maybe once he was better, he could forgive her.

"Gally?" Thomas voice called out, surprised yet cautious.

"Don't," Teresa held him back. "He's been stung."

"There's got to be some more of that serum around here somewhere," Nikola told them. "We can help him and he can come with us." She tried to pull away from him to begin looking but he pulled her back in, her back pressed against his chest now.

"We can't leave," he told them, still only holding Nikola with one arm. Everyone seemed to glance at his other hand and stayed rooted to their spot.

"Gally, we did leave," Thomas tried to reason with him. "We're out."

Nikola didn't understand why no one was moving, no one was looking for the serum that could help him. 

"We're free," Thomas went on and Nikola felt Gally choke out a laugh behind her.

"Free?" Gally repeated. "You think we're free out there? No. No, there's no escape from this place."

His voice and his words were enough to scare Nikola, but when he raised his other hand she finally saw the gun. He aimed it at Thomas and she felt his chest rise and fall against her back as he cried. 

"Gally listen to me, you're not thinking straight. You're not," Thomas put his hands up. "Look, we can help you. Nikola wants to help you. Just put down the gun."

Nikola rested her hands over his arm wrapped tight around her waist, trying to reassure him, but his ragged breathing continued.

"I belong to the maze," he said with such finality that she knew they weren't reaching him.

"Just put down the gun," Thomas tried again.

"We all do!" Gally said.

The gunshot rang loud in her ears, a searing pain ran over the top of her left shoulder, and then Gally wasn't holding her anymore. She heard him gasping and turned to see him just before he fell to the floor, a spear sticking out of his chest.

"No," she cried softly as she fell to her knees with him. "No, no, no! Gally!" She held his face in her hands as it went still. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry! I'm sorry I left you! I'm so sorry!" She sobbed over him, resting her forehead on his.

"Thomas," Chuck's voice piped up. He groaned and she glanced over to see Chuck also fall to the floor, red blooming on his shirt. 

She couldn't believe it. She couldn't function with all the pain in her heart at that moment. The world went silent for her, and her eyes couldn't comprehend what they were seeing anymore. The white light that enveloped them could have been anything to her, but the hands... the hands she felt as they tried to pull her away from Gally. She felt herself scream, she couldn't hear it, and she clawed her way back to Gally, taking his hand even as she was pulled away again. Away from the maze, away from dear Chuck, and away from the boy she loved. The light was blinding and she was enveloped by a heat so intense, she felt like she was going straight to Hell.


	17. The Last City

If Newt hadn't come for her, she would have stayed with Wicked. Part of her believed she deserved it, part of her didn't see the point in fighting anymore. She blamed herself for it, for Gally and for Chuck. She had been so close. She had been right there, close enough to have taken the gun and stopped it all from happening. So, she changed.

The others worried about her, she was determined and reckless at times. Whatever mission they were on or problem they faced, she tackled it head on, sometimes seeming as though she didn't care if she lived or died. She wouldn't have cared if not for the burden she carried and the thought that she had to at least try to redeem herself before Wicked inevitably got her too, just like they'd gotten Minho.

She stood in the corner with Thomas, Newt, and Frypan, her hand tracing the scar on her left shoulder from where the spear had grazed her before embedding itself in Gally's chest. It was her brand as a useless coward. Even though she had been right there with Thomas, Newt and Brenda, getting shot at on the train that day she still believed she was the most spineless person in the world for not having done anything for Gally and Chuck. She cried everyday still when she thought they couldn't see, but they knew.

Only Frypan knew the true depth of it, though, hearing her teary confession when they were keeping watch together on one of their first nights out in the scorch. She thought for sure the cranks would get her and felt like she needed to spill her guts before she died. She told him how she'd kissed Gally the night she'd planned to basically banish herself. She told him how she was afraid that Gally had hated her for what she did because he locked her up and avoided her, but how she still loved him despite everything he'd done. She couldn't blame him because she'd understood his fear and his desire for safety and order. She confessed she blamed herself for his and Chuck's deaths which prompted the former cook to pull her into a bear hug while she cried, assuring her over and over that it wasn't her fault.

He watched her as her fingers moved under the collar of her shirt, tracing the scar, and knew who she was thinking of. The train they'd hijacked that day didn't have Minho aboard, but it did have a short pudgy boy with brown curls. Fry had seen the look cross her face when she saw the kid, a brightness return to her eyes before they clouded over darker than before when she realized it wasn't her little friend. She'd had to turn away from them to get a grip and keep herself from breaking down in sobs right there.

Thomas had a map laid out on the table and was already making a plan to go back for Minho. Vince and Jorge were trying to talk him out of it, talking about the last city and how it was too dangerous. They had a point, there were over 100 munies taking shelter there with them now and they couldn't risk those lives, so if they put their foot down about it she'd understand. But if Thomas asked her to go anyway she would. The only thing she wouldn't do was nothing.

That's why she was there waiting for him with Newt and Fry when he snuck away in the middle of the night. She didn't know how happy Thomas would be to see her, she always feared he hated her for what happened, but at least that would make her expendable in his eyes. At least she was good at driving, but that almost wasn't good enough. They'd gotten into a tough spot with some cranks in an old tunnel and even her driving skills weren't enough to get them out. Death by cranks was not how she wanted to go, so she never gave up, thanking her lucky stars when Brenda and Jorge showed up to help pave the way out for them. That's when they got their first look at the last city. Shining towers stood out in a sea of desolation and ruin, kept at bay by enormous walls.

"Blimey," Newt sighed. "I spent three years trapped behind walls, trying to break out, and now we want to break...back in."

"Yeah, it's hilarious," Fry scoffed.

The walls did put a dent in their plans. According to Jorge, the walls were new since the last time he'd been there, meaning he didn't know how to get past them. Nikola didn't despair overmuch, she knew Thomas would figure it out. He always found a way to get things done, even if it meant doing something incredibly stupid. At least he was doing something, if he put things in motion Nikola could usually steer it.

The closer to the city they got, the more tired Nikola felt. The people were loud, dirty, and angry, rightly so, but it still gave her a feeling of helplessness and hopelessness. She'd hold out for as long as they needed her to, but she prayed it wouldn't be much longer.

An angry voice shouted from a loud speaker behind them but she didn't turn to look. Newt had to pull her to the side as the vehicle drove by them, men with guns and dark gas masks riding atop it. Her eyes followed them lazily, almost disinterested, completely missing the man who stared through his mask at them. Drones buzzed above the shouts and cries of the people around them, all of it fading into a white noise in her ears. It reminded her of the day Gally died and how she didn't hear anything for more than 24 hours. Newt led her by the hand as they followed Thomas through the crowds.

She felt Newt slip his hand from hers before his arm went around her waist. She was used to him trying to show her affection, something she just couldn't bring herself to return or put a stop to, but this felt different. She looked up and saw his eyes darting around, prompting her to take more than just a casual glance as well. There was one man in a gas mask keeping pace with them a few yards to their right. She couldn't see his eyes but she knew he was watching them.

"Wicked?" She asked Newt simply.

"I don't know," he replied with a shake of his head. "I don't know, and I don't like it."

He pushed her along faster till they caught up to Thomas and the others as they stood at the front of the crowd, closest to the city.

"Thomas, we have to go now!" Newt said as the crowd pressed him and Nikola into Thomas's back. "Look!"

Behind them, the men in the gas masks were pressing through the crowd straight for them. They looked to their sides and saw more coming from each direction. Jorge drew his gun as Newt pushed Nikola behind him, putting her back against Thomas. But something drew their attention away from their unknown pursuers. A loud noise, loud enough for even Nikola to hear clearly, silence the chants of the crowd. All attention was turned back toward the city and its walls, to what was moving along the tops of them.

The shouting that had turned to silence now turned to screams as people ran for their lives. Nikola held on to Newt and Fry as they ran to escape the bullets or bombs or whatever was being shot at them. They ducked down an alley way and ran straight into the hands of the masked men. One by one they were grabbed and thrown into their vehicles. Everyone screamed and shouted but Nikola. As soon as they had captured Newt she knew she had to let them take her as well, she couldn't make it on her own without him or Fry, or even Thomas. If one was captured than they all might as well be. She was stuffed into a car with Jorge and Frypan, all the while trying to cooperate and telling them to just keep their hands off her. Thomas, Brenda and Newt were in the other van. Their captors didn't say a word to them, just stared at them through their blacked out masks.

"I do love our little road trips, Fry," Nikola piped up when she couldn't take the silence anymore. It was nice to know she hadn't lost her sense of humor entirely.

Fry laughed next to her. "There's the old glader girl."


	18. The Right Arm

After they drove for what felt like half an hour, she felt the terrain change and their speed reduce. When they lurched to a stop, Jorge attacked. The van shook as he struck out at the nearest captor.

"Where is she!?" he yelled over and over.

Fry put his arm protectively across Nikola keeping themselves pressed to the side of the van so as not to catch one of Jorge's flying limbs. He threw one man against the doors and they burst open, the man tumbling out to the ground where Jorge continued his assault.

After he was out of the car, the other man pulled Fry and Nikola out as well, aiming their guns at them as they were shoved against the side of the vehicle. Nikola held her hands up cooperatively but occasionally swatted theirs away if they lingered too long on her.

"I'm cooperating!" She yelled at one of them. "Keep your hands off of me!"

Brenda calmed Jorge down and Newt looked over to check on Nikola, getting a nod from her that she was alright as the ruckus died down around them just a bit.

"Everybody calm down," a muffled voice was saying. "We're all on the same side here."

"What do you mean, 'same side'? Who the hell are you?" Thomas demanded, taking a step toward the man who had spoken, the same one who had stared at them from atop the car when they first drove by.

There was a pause as the man stared at Thomas through the tinted visor of his mask. For some reason, Nikola's shoulder ached as she looked at him. He turned his head away from her and reached for his mask, slipping it off over his head.

"Hey Greenie," his voice was no longer distorted and she recognized it immediately.

Fry grabbed her as her knees buckled and almost gave out completely from the shock of it. It couldn't be possible. She'd finally lost it. She almost turned to Fry, ready to tell him she must be cranking out because she was seeing dead people now, completely disregarding the fact she was immune. But she couldn't tear her eyes away from Gally just a few yards away from her now.

"What the shuck?" Fry said under his breath, confirming that he was seeing it too.

There was a long pause, sounds going in and out of focus in her ears as she tried to make sense of it. And then Thomas punched him. She gasped as she watched Gally hit the ground, men around him raising their guns at Thomas who now stood over him.

"Stop, it's alright," Gally waved them away, confusing Nikola even more as she stayed pressed against the van even as Fry rushed over to his friends.

Gally just lay there as Thomas gripped the front of his vest, his arms staying by his sides even as Thomas pulled back his fist for another punch. Nikola wanted to run over and grab his arm to stop him, but once again when it came to Gally she was frozen. Luckily, Newt stepped up to the plate.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" he cried as he grabbed Thomas fist and told him to stop.

Gally still lay there, his jaw clenched, waiting for the blow or harsh words, whatever it was he deserved it. This was not the Gally Nikola knew. She watched, her head cocking to the side as if she were seeing some illusion. Surely that wasn't Gally, he just looked like him, the same way the kid from the train had looked like Chuck.

"He killed Chuck," Thomas said in a voice shaking with anger, proving her wrong.

She slid down the side of the van till she sat against the tire, her breath feeling more and more labored. Brenda noticed her and went to her side, cautious of the men with guns still standing by her.

"Hey, are you ok?" Brenda asked her.

Nikola just shook her head, feeling like the scar on her shoulder had been ripped open again as memories flooded back into her mind.

"I remember," Newt was saying. "I was there too, and I also remember that he was stung and half out of his mind, alright?" Newt looked around them, saw Nikola on the ground and turned back to Thomas. "Just calm down, alright?" he whispered.

It felt like Gally and Thomas had swapped bodies. Gally was usually the one throwing punches, not taking them lying down. He still hadn't said a word in his own defense or fought back in the slightest. He didn't even let the men with him come to his aid. He really would have let Thomas beat him to death if he wanted to.

"It can't be him," Nikola mumbled so only Brenda heard her. "It can't be."

Thomas finally sprang back away from Gally who slowly sat up and got to his feet again, grabbing his now aching jaw.

"I kinda had that coming," Gally said to himself before looking at Thomas again.

Brenda pulled Nikola to her feet again but couldn't get her to come much closer to the others, her breathing still labored to the point it caused the shorter girl some concern.

"Anybody else? Fry? Newt?" Gally's eyes glanced over at Nikola but he didn't say her name.

"You know this guy?" Jorge asked from behind Fry.

"He... was an old friend," Fry responded without a mean or joking lilt in his tone, just an uncharacteristic melancholy.

Gally's eyes flit to the floor and Nikola felt her heart lurch.

"H-how is this possible?" Newt asked, gesturing vaguely at Gally. "I don't... We watched you die." Newt's voice became firm at the end, almost indignant.

"No," Gally said. "You left me to die."

His words cut straight through Nikola's heart. She pushed away from Brenda and even the man with the gun, hiding herself between the two vans as she doubled over, trying to hold in her sobs. He'd still been alive and she'd left him behind. Again.

"What's wrong with her?" the man asked Brenda as she grabbed Nikola's arms.

"I don't know," Brenda shrugged as she tried to help the practically convulsing girl. Fat tears hit the pavement like rain, leaving wet spots in the dust.

After Nikola's experience with Teresa, first in the maze with the broken nose, and ending with her betrayal in the desert, Nikola didn't really trust or open up to girls. She didn't really open up to anyone except Fry and, to a somewhat lesser extent, Newt. So Brenda didn't know much about Gally let alone Nikola and Gally.

"What the hell are you doing here?" Gally was saying.

"Minho," Newt answered. "Wicked has him here. We're looking for a way in."

There was a pause while Brenda straightened Nikola up and used her sleeves to wipe the tears and snot from her face. She'd never seen so much water come from one person in so little time before and gathered that the usually silent and stoic girl who lurked in corners was in a tremendous amount of pain.

"I can help with that," Gally said after a beat.

"Come on," Brenda told her squeezing her shoulders, making her scar tingle. "Keep it together, alright? At least for now."

"Follow me," Gally said.

At his words Brenda pulled Nikola out of their hiding place so they wouldn't be left behind. Fry turned to her and pulled her into his side.

"I'm not going anywhere with you," Thomas shook his head. From his behavior now Nikola realized he'd never hated her at all, he only hated Gally.

"Suit yourself," Gally sighed, his body only turned halfway back to them, his eyes flicking over to see Nikola's red, tear stained face and swollen lips. "But I can get your through those walls."

Seeing her face made him regret what he'd said. He hadn't meant those words for her but she seemed to be the only one who took them to heart. He had a cloudy memory of her face hovering over his, sobs and apologies pouring from her mouth as she stroked his face, enough to distract him from the pain in his chest. He remembered her screams as her hand grabbed his before she was torn away from him. He didn't bear any of them ill will, but especially not her. He was just thankful that she was still alive, in fact, he had to fight just to focus on anything but her.

Thomas finally accepted Gally's invitation and they all followed him, Newt and Fry keeping Nikola between them as Gally explained what happened.

"After the maze I got picked up by a group heading to the city," Gally said as he led them through the building. "They realized I was immune, patched me up, and brought me here, to Lawrence. This troop's been at war with wicked ever since they took control of the city." They passed an area closed off with a chain link fence, the men who had captured them returning their equipment to shelves of supplies. "But Wicked can't hide behind those walls forever," Gally went on, taking another turn. "The day's gonna come and they're gonna pay for what they've done."

He went silent and then stopped, turning to face them.

"Listen, uh," his tone had changed drastically as he looked them over. "He doesn't get a lot of visitors so... let me do the talking, alright? And try not to stare."

They went downstairs into a darker room. A shaft of sunlight came through the window on the far wall illuminating a large collection of rose bushes, a man with an IV tethered to his arm was tending to them. Nikola could smell the sweet scent of the roses, it tickled her nose like velvet. The memory of Gally giving her a daisy flashed in her mind and she looked for the nearest corner to settle into. Her eyes widened when she saw two large bookshelves absolutely crammed with books. She hadn't seen so many before and she inspected the spines as Gally went up to the man.

"Gally," he called, almost happily. "Glad to see you made it back. Jasper told me what happened."

"It was a slaughter," Gally confirmed, resting his hands on the neckline of his vest. "There's nothing we can do against those guns." He shrugged.

"No... but they can only poke the hornet's nest so long before they get stung," the man lifted a rose to his face, turning just enough for Nikola to see that he was missing his nose completely. Now she knew why Gally told them not to stare. "Who are these people? Why are they here?"

"We need to get into Wicked," Thomas spoke up, ignoring Gally's instructions to let him do the talking. Typical Thomas, putting his foot on the stupid gas pedal. Gally looked over at him sharply. "Gally said you can get us through the walls."

The man looked at Thomas in a moment of silence. "Well, Gally should know better than to make promises he can't keep."

Nikola bit her lips. They were already causing him trouble in his new home.

"Besides," Lawrence went on. "That wall is only half your problem. Getting inside Wicked is impossible."

"There might be a way now," Gally told him. "But it doesn't work without Thomas."

Thomas and Lawrence had a tense and creepy conversation, but eventually Lawrence agreed to let Gally take two into the city, leaving the rest behind as insurance to make sure Thomas returned.

"You, there," Lawrence called to Nikola but she was still looking at the books, unaware he was talking to her. "Do you like my library?"

She turned around at that to find him right behind her. He looked like he had been at the bottom of the sea for a long time, his edges corroded and new, foreign growths sticking off in odd places. She tried to focus on his eyes as she swallowed.

"Yes," she said nervously. "I like it."

"What's your name?" He asked her as he tilted his head, taking in all the signs that she alone had been crying.

"Nikola," she said, glancing at the others over his shoulder for some kind of clue.

His brow raised slightly as a smile pulled beneath the hole that was left of his nose. "Nikola," he repeated, glancing at Gally. "You seem upset, why don't you take this," he handed the rose to her. "A little peace offering."

After that, Gally got rid of his gear, throwing on a sweatshirt instead, then led them to a room. He moved a large sheet of metal on the floor, exposing a rough-cut hole. Gally lowered a ladder down into it and went to start his descent.

"Gally," Fry said as he crouched next to him. "Take care of these two alright?" He gestured to Thomas and Newt, the ones going with him. "And when you get back, make sure you talk to her."

Gally looked at him for a second, knowing exactly who he was talking about. "Yeah," he nodded before going down, hoping this trip would give him time to build up the courage he needed to do that. He never imagined he'd have to face her again, after everything he'd done. Lawrence had made him nervous as well, taking an interest in her. When Gally had been brought in, stung and dying, he'd apparently said her name a lot. He didn't know what that would mean.

"What the heck was that all about, Nikola?" Brenda finally asked her once Newt and Thomas were gone.

She just gave Brenda a miserable look, feeling too tired to get into it.

"Gally's the one that took over the glade and tried to kill Thomas, who did kill that kid, Chuck, right?" Brenda went on.

Nikola felt a small flame of anger spark up in her chest. "Is that all that Thomas told you?" She asked with furrowed brows and a bite in her voice, surprising Brenda so much she took a step back. "Thomas was in the glade less than a week, I was there for two months, he doesn't know Gally like I do."

"Nobody knows Gally like you do," Fry stated under his breath. Both girls looked at him, Nikola with a glare and Brenda with an almost visible lightbulb above her head as she realized what he meant.

"Shut up, Fry," Nikola grumbled as she turned away, gripping the rose stem tightly. She didn't want to tell the tale of being the only girl for three years and still getting shot down and dismissed. Even now he could barely look at her.

Footsteps echoed down the hall outside and a man entered the room. "We've set up a place where you can rest if you want," he informed them.

Brenda and Fry wanted to stay there till the others came back, but Nikola took him up on the offer. Her pounding head needed a rest. Fry was nervous about being separated from her but she wasn't worried.

"What are they going to do? Kidnap me?"


	19. Old Friends

Thomas and Newt trudged after Gally in a foul sewer pipe. Newt loudly complained about the smell but was unable to get any conversation going between either of the boys.

"We've got a ways to go, stick with me," Gally told them as he flicked on some string lights along the curved tunnel wall. He figured he had plenty to atone for, but they weren't going to be his friends any time soon.

"So, are you ever going to ask about Nikola, or should I just start telling you?" Newt finally bit the bullet and launched into a touchy topic. "We seem to have time."

"I saw you guys in the city," Gally said without looking at him, his hand clenching into a fist by his side as he remembered how close Nikola had been to Newt. "I can put things together."

Newt let out a short, humorless laugh. "Are you kidding? I couldn't even compete with you when you were dead," he informed his old friend, finally receiving a glance from him.

Gally felt his chest constrict a bit and his hand went over his scar, Newt's eyes following the motion.

"Bet you've got a bloody big scar, aye?" Newt asked. "She has one too."

"How?" Gally asked with furrowed brows.

"The spear grazed her shoulder before it hit you. You'd hardly notice it if she could keep her bloody hands off it. It's her tell for when she's thinking about you," Newt informed him, his lips pressing together in a sad sort of smile.

"And how would you know that?" Gally asked, wondering why Newt was even telling him this. He'd been the bad guy, the one who took over the glade and killed Chuck. And on top of that, Newt loved her too.

"Because she always looks sad when she does it. Gally, I'm sorry you think we 'left you to die', but don't think of her that way."

"It took four men to drag her away from you," Thomas added, making both of them turn to him in surprise. His eyes had a far off look, as if he were remembering. It was obvious he was think more of Nikola than of Gally. "I'll never forget how she was screaming."

Gally could vaguely hear it ringing in his ears before he blacked out, but it wasn't nearly as haunting as what Thomas remembered. It hurt Gally to think of it so he turned and tried to keep them moving.

"I heard her one night in the scorch," Newt wasn't ready to drop it, not until he sussed out just who Gally had become. "She was on watch with Fry and thought we were all asleep. She blames herself for you and Chuck-"

"What?" Gally asked as he came to a dead stop and turned around, his Adam's apple bobbing as he tried to swallow a lump in his throat. Newt almost ran into him. "Why would she?" He almost begged for an answer as his eyes became glassy. It reminded Newt of how he'd looked when he was stung and crying.

"She thinks she could have taken the gun from you. Then you never would have fired a shot, and Minho never would have had to put a spear in your chest," Newt explained, hating that she'd never entrusted that information to him personally.

Gally bit his lips and looked away, running his hand over his hair which was even shorter now than it had been in the glade. "Oh, Shuck," He said with a shaky breath, his bad lung acting up on him.

Newt smiled at the sound of an old glader word. It had been a long time since he'd heard it. "You two have a lot to talk about when we get back, so let's hurry this up, yeah?" Newt suggested and they got moving again.

It was late when they returned. Fry and Brenda were still there waiting for them but were leaning on a wall half asleep. Gally looked around for Nikola, his brows furrowing when he didn't see her. He wondered if he'd been right to have suspiscions about Lawrence and his interest in her.

"She went to go rest," Fry told him with a yawn. "I don't know where."

"Alright, I'll take you guys somewhere we can talk and then I'll go get her," Gally told them.

He asked around and finally found out that they'd actually taken her to his room. She lay on the bed with her back to the door, her jacket laid over her like a blanket and her hair splayed across his pillow, probably making it smell like her. He stood in his own doorway just looking at her for a moment. He thought he'd never see her again, that she'd either be dead or taken by wicked or hiding from wicked so that he'd never have a chance of finding her. But there she was, on his bed. Like it was meant to be.

Slowly he walked over, looking at her peaceful profile before gently putting a hand on her shoulder. "Nikola, wake up," he said softly.

Despite all his efforts to wake her up calmly she woke with a start, gasping and looking at him with wide eyes as she went up on her elbow. Then she shut her eyes tightly and looked down, putting a hand over her face. "Sorry. Sorry, I forgot for a second," She told him as she sat up.

"It's alright," he said as he glimpsed the scar on her shoulder through a tear in her old and ratty shirt. In fact, he almost thought it looked familiar, it might be the one she'd been wearing that day. After talking to Newt he knew he couldn't repeat his mistake in the glade. He had to talk things out with her. "Listen," he said kneeling by the bed, her face softening in surprise. "The others are waiting. We're gonna go talk about what to do next, but after that... can we talk?"

Her eyes went slightly wide and she swallowed, reminding him of the face she'd make when he would come over to correct something she was doing wrong. It made his chest feel tight again.

"Yeah," she finally answered, nodding a little too much. "Sure."

She hadn't been that close to him yet and it threw her for a loop. She could have sworn he was even bigger than before. His hair was shorter now and his face was slightly harder, life having aged him and whittled off most of his soft, boyish edges. But those were still the same plump lips she so vividly knew.

He nodded, straightening up, and she got off the bed and put on her jacket again, noting how his eyes traveled down her body. Maybe he was thinking she looked different now too. Maybe she did, she wouldn't know, it's not like she had much time to look in a mirror even if she had one.

"What happened there?" He gestured to her hair as she was gathering it up in a ponytail again as she followed him through the halls. There was a section of hair on the left side that was significantly shorter than the rest of it.

"Oh, uh," she stuttered, the not so fond memory popping into her head. "A crank grabbed a fistful of it. It was either lose my hair or..."

His jaw clenched as he thought of her so close to a crank. Aside from Lawrence, he hadn't seen one himself, not the kind she'd encountered in the scorch that is, but he'd seen people who had begun to turn. It wasn't pretty.

"Hey, Gally," a girl stepped into the hall and gave him a smile that disappeared when her eyes landed on Nikola.

Gally gave her a nod and kept moving, noticing Nikola reach for her shoulder out of the corner of his eye.

Nikola was realizing just how much could happen in a year. She couldn't believe how much had happened to her, but she'd been so busy fighting for her life against cranks and Wicked and being betrayed and trying to get Minho back that she'd only thought of one boy, a dead one. Or so she thought. He could have been up to anything with anyone. Someone else could very well know Gally the way she knew him, or even more. Sure, she knew he didn't want her back in the glade, but at least back then he didn't have any other options, she didn't have to worry about him loving another girl because she'd been the only girl. That was no longer the case.

"Right here," Gally said, opening a door a pulling her out of her thoughts.

Everyone was waiting, looking tired, but Newt and Thomas gave her a look she didn't like.

"What did you find?" She asked them warily as she approached, stepping into the light of the single bulb dangling from the ceiling.

"Teresa," Thomas answered, making her reel back like he'd tried to slap her.

"Oh... shuck," she muttered with barely contained rage as she rubbed her right thigh, another scar courtesy of their good old two-faced frenemy.


	20. Lighter

Nikola put herself in a shady corner again as the others talked about plans and ways in. She was stewing about Teresa and Thomas seemed set on avoiding her altogether. Nikola didn't know anything about the city and was absolute rubbish at strategy, so she remained quiet, willing to go along with whatever they came up with.

"No, there's got to be another way in," Thomas said causing Gally to give a shrug that bordered on dramatic for him, his knuckles knocking against the table top.

"Like what?" he asked. "You've seen the building; she is our only way in."

"You really think she's gonna help us?"

"I don't plan on asking for her permission," Gally replied, causing the smallest of smirks to tug the corner of Nikola's lips.

"Am I missing something here?" Brenda piped up. "This is the same girl who betrayed us, correct? Same dick?"

"I like her," Gally nodded, erasing the smirk from Nikola's face and making her reach for her shoulder.

Thomas was pacing nervously a few feet away from everyone.

"What's going on?" Brenda asked him softly, a silence stretching out as he didn't answer or look anyone in the eye.

"What? Are you afraid your little girlfriend's gonna get hurt?" Newt asked him, the sharpness in his tone making Nikola push herself off the wall. Thomas just stared at him in surprise as well. "Hmm? This has obviously never been just about rescuing Minho."

"Wait, what are you talking about?" Thomas may have been dumb but he wasn't that stupid, Nikola could always spot his fibs a mile away.

"Teresa," Newt spat as he stood up. "She's the only reason that Minho's even missing in the first place and now we finally have an opportunity to get him back and you-" Newt's voice was catching on emotions as he backed Thomas up toward the far wall. "-and now you don't want to because of her?" The way he said it broke Nikola's heart and she started to walk over to him slowly. "Because deep down inside you still care about her, just admit it."

"Newt, I-" Thomas began to say before Newt had grabbed the front of his shirt and pushed him against the wall.

"Don't lie to me!" Newt yelled with an anger she'd never heard from him before. "Don't. Lie. To. Me."

And then he let go and backed up a step as if his senses had returned to him. "I'm sorry," he whispered to Thomas before looking over the others until his eyes landed on Nikola who'd stopped just behind him when he'd started yelling. "I'm sorry." And then he was walking out of the room.

Thomas shared a look with her, both of them stunned and worried. "Let me handle this," Thomas told her before going after Newt.

"Well, as much as I love talking about Teresa and breaking back into Wicked," Fry spoke up. "I think I need a nap."

"Come on, I'll take you," Gally nodded.

Nikola went to follow, not knowing what else to do, but Gally turned to her at the doorway.

"Can you wait here a minute?" He asked her, reminding her they had an appointment to talk one on one.

She just nodded, catching Brenda's tired eye behind Gally for a second. He nodded and led the others away. Nikola hugged herself and strayed back over to the table. She was worried. Worried about so many things she couldn't even count them all, but the biggest one in that very moment was what Gally wanted to talk to her about.

'Maybe about how you ruined your friendship,' she thought as she sat down at the table. 'Or how you left him behind. Or how you didn't help him. Or how you left him for dead.'

She let her head fall on the table with a loud and painful thud, whining to herself. "You're a shucking piece of trash," She whispered to herself as she clasped her hands over the back of her neck before sighing heavily.

"You ok?" Gally's voice called from the door, making her head shoot up and her hands snatch at the paper stuck to her forehead.

"Yeah, just... peachy," she replied awkwardly as embarrassment painted her cheeks red.

"Come with me, I want to show you something," he nodded over his shoulder for her to come with him.

She got up and followed, figuring if he was going to take her somewhere and whack her she deserved it anyway. He silently led her down halls filling with people again since the sun had rose, making her worry about his lack of sleep. He led her into a room with its outer wall broken down and a bridge crossing to a neighboring rooftop. That rooftop was covered in plants, groomed and maintained compared to what she'd seen sprouting around the dilapidated city. She followed him across the bridge and over to a wooden chair and foot rest. She could tell just by looking at them that Gally had built them himself and it almost made her smile. He gestured for her to take the chair and he sat himself on the footrest.

"I know it probably sounds crazy," he said as she sat down and he looked at the roof around them. "But it reminds me of the glade. Sometimes I miss it- parts of it." He looked at her face to see what she thought of that, but her expression was a very familiar one. "Why do you look like you're in trouble?"

She let out a heavy breath like she had been holding it. "Aren't I?" She asked him, her brows knotted like he'd never seen before. "I only have about a million things to apologize to you for," the words started tumbling out at break neck speed and wouldn't stop even when he put his hands up and told her to slow down. "I ruined our friendship, and I left you behind without even telling you or saying goodbye, and I didn't help you, and then I left you again when you weren't actually dead, and I'm so, so sor-" she was cut off by his hand over her mouth, her teary eyes finally connecting with his.

"Stop, stop," he was saying softly. "Just breathe."

She realized she'd practically started hyperventilating and tried to calm down and breathe properly again, but feeling his touch again for the first time had only made her heart beat more erratically. He took his hand off her mouth, feeling a few tears fall on it, and took her shaking hands instead.

"I'm sorry for what I said about you guys leaving me for dead," he told her, giving her time to catch her breath. He didn't think she'd even been this emotional when Shawn had attacked her. "I know you didn't. I know you tried to...stay with me and that they took you away."

She wanted to point out that she could have tried to get them to help him, to bring him as well, or that she could have prevented it all from happening if she'd just taken the gun. But she was crying too hard and trying too hard to hold it in from being a blubbering, snotty mess. All she could do was shake her head.

"I'm not upset with you, Nikola," he told her as he tried to hold her gaze and get her to listen to him.

"Oh, but you were, you were!" she reminded him, pulling her hands away as she shook her head, a sob racking her chest. "I left you."

"Nikola, no," he said in distress. He reached for her again, but had to place it over his own chest as he felt a sharp twinge from his lung again. He was so angry at himself for causing her this much pain. "I was stung, I was crazy. I'm glad you got out, and I'm sorry I tried to keep you there. If anyone ruined our friendship it was me for trying to lock you up all the time."

"No, I clearly remember the night I went and shucked it all up," she said with such conviction it confused him. Her ears went red and she looked down. "The bonfire night... when Thomas arrived."

His brows went up and he felt hot, knowing exactly the night.

"After everything with Shawn things were so bad for me and for you that I... I was going to leave while everyone slept off their hangovers-"

"Shuck, no," Gally said under his breath and ran a now shaking hand over his hair as he leaned back and then forward again, agitated that she'd ever contemplated something suicidal and not told him. "Nikola..."

"I just wanted you to know how much you meant to me before I left, and I thought that you might have felt the same. I'm sorry I did that to you," She was saying.

"Whoa, wait a second," he said, pulling his seat closer to her. "You have nothing to apologize for, you hear me? Nothing," her dark rimmed eyes looked up at him when his tone became serious. "I have to apologize to you. You'd been drinking, and I thought... maybe you didn't know what you were doing. I took advantage of you- I was just as terrible as the others. I wanted you to be safe. I wanted you to feel like I was safe."

He wasn't so good at talking about his emotions or admitting when he'd shucked up, but he forced himself to do it if it finally cleared things up for her and eased her conscience.

"You didn't take advantage of me," she argued back, shaking her head. "You didn't do anything I didn't want you to-" she bit her tongue out of embarrassment for a moment as she ran her hands over her face, feeling like she must look a mess. She figure this might be her only opportunity to come completely clean. She glanced at him between her fingers, finding him patiently waiting for her with red ears. "That was...the happiest I'd ever been," she admitted quietly with a heavy blush, not able to look him in the eyes.

Gally could have been knocked over with a feather at that confession. He never expected that she'd actually felt something real for him, he always thought he was some drunk mistake, that anyone might have been acceptable especially considering she had apparently planned to waltz herself into the maze the next morning. But she had chosen him over everyone. Him. The guy who had been so hostile to her when she'd first arrived, who had complained about her constantly, let the other builders harass her, and criticized all her work. She had done it on purpose. Nothing had ever confused him more.

"Wait, wait," he stammered as he looked at her stunned, his breathing getting a little quicker. "You... you picked me?"

A look crossed her face like he was stupid. "Of course, I- you think after all I went through with all those stupid boys, I'd- You were my best friend!"

"Oh God, I didn't realize," he shook his head.

"I figured you must have been mad or you hated me, because you stopped talking to me."

"No, I never hated you," He said quickly, looking into her eyes again. "I never hated you. I'm so sorry for how I treated you, for everything I did. I know it doesn't seem like it, but I really was trying to protect you. But I did it all wrong," he admitted bitterly. "I was afraid of what could be outside the glade."

"To be fair, you had a right to be," she said as she loosely gestured to everything around them. "I get it. If I had known this was what was waiting for us, and there was a chance things could have been like they were before Thomas arrived... I would have taken it."

His chest felt a little lighter knowing she hadn't been thinking of him like a villain this whole time. It made him dare to ask her something.

"So..." he fidgeted. "Are we ok? Can you... forgive me for what I did to you?"

She tilted her head slightly as she looked back at him. "Can you forgive me?" She countered.

"There is nothing I have to forgive you for," he tried to tell her again.

"Well, just say you forgive me, I need to hear it," She countered. "Please."

He sighed as he gazed up at her, his chest feeling lighter than it ever had before. "I forgive you."

"Thank you," she said as a smile appeared on her swollen lips.

He remembered how it felt to kiss those lips, even though he tried not to since it made him feel guilty, but now... she had wanted that. Wanted him. A strange noise occurred, drawing him out of his thoughts, and he realized it was her stomach growling.

"Geez," he commented with a light chuckle as she wrapped her arms around her middle. "Are you hungry?"

"Starving," She admitted sheepishly, biting her bottom lip.

"Come on, I'll get you some food," he told her as he stood up and offered his hand.

She hesitated for a second before she slipped her hand in his, letting him hold it even as they began to walk. Then she stopped.

"Gally?" she said, their arms slightly stretched between them. He gave her a confused frown. "Can I..."

He tilted his head to the side when her words trailed off. She stepped closer and released his hand, slowly and carefully wrapping her arms around him in a hug. He gladly returned it, enveloping her tiny body in his big arms and resting his chin atop her head. He felt her squeeze a little harder and turn her face so her forehead rested against his chest, right over his scar. They stayed like that until her stomach growled again. He pulled back slightly and rubbed his hands up and down her arms a few times.

"Let's get some food," he said and took her hand again.


	21. Ghosts

Gally and Thomas left for the city again that night. When they returned, they brought Teresa with them. Nikola had suggested they not bring her back to the Right Arm in case it put their location at risk, she didn't want to jeopardize Gally's new home and new friends. Besides, she didn't trust Teresa as far as she could throw her. So they brought her to an old church, one long abandoned by the people who believed that God was dead, a poor attempt to explain the world the around them. Candlelight light danced on the walls while the moon illuminated the stained glass windows.

Gally noticed Thomas and Nikola talking in hushed tones, standing close together where Teresa couldn't overhear them. She was listening intently to what he was saying, not looking a bit pleased, but then she nodded and an eerie calm settled over her face. Without giving him a glance as she passed by, she soundlessly made her way across the room, taking her hair down and standing in the shadows behind Teresa.

"Just act like she's not there," Thomas whispered to Gally who had watched her in curiosity. He had a bad feeling about it.

Newt walked over and slipped the bag off her head. She gasped and pushed her hair out of her face as she looked up and recognized him before she looked around the room. "Gally?" she almost stuttered in surprise when her eyes landed on him.

Gally's face was stone cold. "Here's how this is gonna go," he said, dispensing with any pleasantries whatsoever, mostly because he found her unpleasant. "We're gonna ask you some questions and you're going to tell us exactly what we need to know."

Nikola smiled in the dark. There was the old Gally she knew.

"We'll start off simple," He said as he straightened up and grabbed a chair, bringing it closer to her. "Where's Minho?"

She sounded almost breathless when she looked at Thomas and opened her mouth. "You guys don't seriously think-"

She was cut off by the loud bang of Gally dropping the chair in front of her and straddling it, setting his arms across the back as he furrowed his brows at her. "Don't look at him," he commanded. "Why are you looking at him? Look at me."

Nikola was.

"He's not gonna help you," Gally went on, being the bad cop while Thomas practically moped behind him. "Now, we know you have Minho in the building. Where?"

She was silent a moment too long and Thomas made a sign to Nikola. Gally could see her moving up behind Teresa but didn't look at her as instructed.

"Where?" Gally repeated, harsher.

When she shook her head, mumbling how it didn't matter, Nikola carefully grabbed a lock of her hair, startling her. Teresa looked up at her with wide eyes, almost fearful.

"You have such pretty hair, Teresa," she said in falsely sweet voice as she wound it around her finger. "So nice and shiny and clean. Do you remember, back in the scorch, how that crank grabbed my hair and you just... ran away and left me there?" She'd wound the hair up enough in her fingers to then twist it around her palm and give a good yank, causing Teresa to wince. "Why don't you be that good little coward I know you are, and answer Gally's question," She whispered in her ear.

"He's with the others in holding, sublevel three" Teresa caved.

Nikola released her hair and walked over to stand beside Gally, wishing she could scrub her hand clean.

"How many others?" Newt asked.

Teresa at least had the decency to pretend she was embarrassed. "Twenty-eight."

Gally looked back at Brenda who said she could make that work.

"No, no you guys don't understand," Teresa sputtered. "The whole level is restricted. Y-you can't get in without a thumbprint ID."

"That's why you're going to come with us," Thomas informed her.

Gally shrugged, liking her even less after he heard what Nikola said to her. "Well, I don't know," he mused. "We don't necessarily need her. Right?"

He stood up, the chair clattering across the floor as he pushed it out of his way. He turned back to the table.

"Not all of her," he said as he picked up a knife and returned to Nikola's side. "We just need her finger."

"Gally, back off," Thomas warned but sounded tired.

"What, are you squeamish?" Gally asked him. "I guarantee you she's done a lot worse to Minho," he said, gesturing to her with the knife.

"That's not the plan, back off" Thomas said as he took the knife from Gally and finally stood up and faced Teresa himself, nudging Nikola to the side.

"It won't make a difference," Teresa said in that clipped, know it all manner that Nikola had come to detest. "Do whatever you want to me, you still won't get through the front door. The sensors will pick you up-"

"I know, we're tagged," Thomas nodded, walking over and crouching beside her. "Property of Wicked."

She warily eyed the knife in his hand before looking him in the eyes again.

"You're going to help us with that too."

"I can't believe you want to let her near me with a knife," Nikola hissed at Thomas as Teresa extracted the chip from Newt first. "After everything she's put me through." She rubbed her right leg for effect, a nasty gunshot wound from the big betrayal when they'd lost Minho. It was so bad, they assumed she was dying and didn't bother to take her.

"Nikola, this is the only way we can save Minho," he reminded her as Gally eavesdropped on them. "And 28 other kids just like us."

"I know," she growled. "Doesn't mean I have to like it."

Thomas came around the corner as Fry was passing out some clothes.

"Give those to Nikola, will you?" Fry asked as he passed more clothes to Gally along with a knowing look.

Gally went around the corner and saw Nikola, her arms braced on the windowsill, her face spattered in multicolored moonlight from the glass. He swallowed.

"Here's your disguise," he said, getting her attention as he held out the clothes to her.

She gave him a funny look as she took them from him, almost grinning.

"What?" he asked.

"I'm just waiting for you to find a room to lock me in," she shrugged, an attempt at humor.

He bit back and embarrassed grin of his own as he scratched the back of his neck. "Maybe I've learned you're a lot tougher than I ever gave you credit for," he admitted before he became serious again. "Listen... I might not lock you up, but I am going to protect you, ok?"

He kept a close eye on Teresa as she removed Nikola's chip next. Very close.

"You must have been happy to see Gally still alive," Teresa commented as she made the incision, glancing at Gally who sat nearby with furrowed brows. The pair that couldn't even stay dead.

"Happier than I was to see you," Nikola commented through a wince.

"I was just saying that to distract you from the pain, I know you never liked me," Teresa said as she removed the chip.

"You never gave me a reason to," Nikola's voice was low and severe. She turned and looked Teresa in the eye. "Tell me something. If you're so convinced you're doing the right thing- if this is all worth it to find a cure, why aren't you in there with Minho, huh? Why don't you make the sacrifice yourself instead of forcing others to do it?"

Teresa gaped at her for a second before her lovely groomed brows started drawing together, some arrogant remark brewing on the tip of her tongue about how she was doing her part, she was more useful running the experiment than being it, but Nikola cut her off.

"Because you're a coward, and fool who thinks she can save the crop by burning the field," Nikola said as she gave Teresa a piercing stare, her voice low and steady. Then she got up and walked off before Teresa could bandage her up.

Teresa gaped up at Gally as he picked up the supplies from the tray to do it himself, glaring down at her silently before following after Nikola. He had been impressed by how she handled that, but also sad to see that life had demanded her to change so much. She was at the window again, wiping her nose as blood trickled down her neck.

"Sounds like she really put you through it," Gally said as he came up behind her and dabbed at her neck with a clean piece of gauze.

"You have no idea," Nikola sniffled as he applied the antibiotics.

She almost forgot about all the damage Teresa caused to her, physically, emotionally, or otherwise, when she felt Gally brush the baby hairs off the back of her neck and gently smooth a bandage over the wound, making sure it sealed properly against her skin on each edge, goosebumps breaking out on her skin. Then she felt his fingers stray, brushing down her neck to her shoulder, causing her breath to hitch. The material of her shirt stretched as he slipped her collar down her shoulder, exposing her scar.

"I guess I have too," he commented.

She placed her hand over his on her shoulder and turned to look at him. "It's not-"

She was cut off by the sounds of an argument in the next room, Gally went to check on it and she stayed behind to change her clothes, goosebumps still littering her skin from his gentle touch. She was starting to care a great deal about whether she survived now.

Newt came around the corner as she was pulling her new shirt down over her.

"What's up?" she nodded to him, donned in his Wicked uniform.

"I just wanted to wish you luck," He said, his voice hitching a little. "And, you know... just in case-"

"Oh, come on, Newt," she stepped closer to him with a sad smile. "You know I don't like the old 'just in case' stuff. We're going to be fine," she said it as if trying to convince herself.

"I know, but let me say it anyway, just this once."

She'd never seen his dark eyes look so pleading before and her smile faltered. "Yeah, ok," she swallowed.

Newt cleared his throat. "Good luck out there, watch your back, and I love you."

Nikola's eyes snapped up to his, her heart skipping a beat. She'd never heard those words from anyone before and it completely caught her off guard.

"I-I love you too, Newt," she said softly before putting her arms around his neck, feeling him hug her so tightly.

He knew she didn't mean it the same way he had, but it didn't matter. He was happy to have told her and happy she loved him at all.


	22. The Heist

Luckily, Nicola was tall enough to pass as a guard. She followed Gally through the parking structure till they met up with Thomas, Newt and Teresa. The four of them took a stairwell to the sublevel, leaving her to stand guard and watch for Brenda to come with the bus. She felt Gally touch her arm before he slipped away. It was hard enough to focus when she was in Wicked's own house with guards crawling all over the place, she didn't need to go swooning over the recently resurrected Gally on top of it all.

She tried to breathe normally and not fidget so she wouldn't draw any attention to herself. She wondered what would happen when Thomas got Minho out and the Right Arm had brought Wicked down. Would she have to part ways with Gally? That would suck, knowing he's alive and just leaving him. She doubted he would want to come with them given how they'd greeted him, but she hoped he would. Or else she might have to risk making a fool of herself to ask him if she could stay with him. He hadn't really explained clearly how he felt about her after they cleared things up about the kiss, she still worried he didn't want her.

It might have been five minutes later that she heard a blip on her walkie talkie, breaking her run away freight train of thought. She slipped into the stairwell while no one was looking and answered.

"Hey, we hit a snag," came Gally's voice over a terrible racket. "Minho's not here, they're going to get him. I need you to come down and help me out."

"Ok, I'll let Brenda know," She agreed before setting off down the stairs.

She got to the holding cell and immediately faced some armed kids and put her hands up, the loud grinding of a saw coming from the back of the room.

"Take off the mask," one of the kids instructed.

"Ok, it's ok," she said as she slowly reached up and began to take it off. "I'm here with Gally to get you out."

"Show us your hair," they demanded next, confusing her until she realized. She pulled her ponytail over her shoulder, showing the long and short parts. "It's her."

They all lowered their weapons and led her back to the vault where Gally was, still sawing away. Nikola came up behind him and put a hand on his shoulder to let him know she was there.

"What do you need?" She asked him over the noise.

"As soon as I get in, we take the serum and the kids and get out of here," he told her. "And we have to catch up with Thomas after he gets Minho."

"Ok... what do I do right now?" She asked him, a bit confused still.

"Just be ready to help me grab the serum when I get the door open. Until then you can just stand there and look pretty."

She lightly narrowed her eyes at his back, a smirk pulling the corner of her mouth. She turned to the kids who were watching them with big, scared eyes.

"It's going to be ok," She told them again. "Wicked isn't going to hurt you anymore. We're going to get you on a bus and get you out of here. We have it all planned out, ok? So don't worry."

They looked so young. She wondered if she had been that young when she wound up in the maze and what she looked like now.

"Did- did you all come from a maze?" she asked them out of sheer curiosity.

They looked confused by that and shook their heads. One told her they had gone through other trials and Minho was the only one from a maze trial.

"That's... good, I guess," she muttered to herself before there was a clang behind her.

She hopped to and went in the door as soon as Gally pulled it open, shuffling through the supplies until she found vials of blue liquid just like Lawrence had. "I got it!"

They bagged it up and started to put the Wicked guards inside the vault when the alarm rang. Nikola shared a look with Gally. 'Thomas' their eyes said. They moved quicker. They drug the last guard in and Nikola started to get her mask back on as Gally shut the vault.

"Ok, we need to get out of here. Now," He said seriously as he came over and grabbed the bag of serum. "Stay close to me, and stick together." He looked at one boy and took a step closer, thrusting the serum into his hands. "You. You guard this with your life. You understand?"

The boy was a little hesitant but nodded and took it. Then Gally turned to Nikola, taking in her face in case it was the last he saw of it for a while. Her eyes were like steel as she looked up at him. "You ready?" he asked her.

She loaded a round in the chamber of her shock rifle. "I won't let you down."

He didn't have time to tell her she never had, he turned to the kids and loaded his own rifle as well. "Let's go."

Gally led from the front while Nikola took the tail end, making sure no one got left behind or taken out. It wasn't easy getting so many kids out at once and for some reason the image of Dalmatians popped in her head.

"Stay low, stay low!" Gally hissed as they ran past some guards in the parking structure. "Brenda, where you? We're here," he said into the walkie talkie.

A bus screeched to a halt right in front of him and he made sure it was Brenda before ushering the kids onto the bus.

"Where's Thomas?" Brenda asked.

"I hoped he was with you," Gally told her, brows furrowing since that wasn't the case. Brenda seemed concerned and started to get off the bus, but Gally stopped her. "No, no. Stay here with the kids," he instructed, pushing Nikola toward the bus as well. "Just... wait here. I'll find them."

"Gally!" Nikola called out, trying to follow him.

"Nikola, no. stay here," he gently pushed her back and tried to ignore how the look in her eyes made his chest hurt again.

"Let me come with you!"

"No."

"I can't lose you ag-"

"You won't," he said firmly, holding her arms. "I'm good at cheating death, remember?" he pulled his mask down over a slight smirk before turning and running off.

"You better be!" He heard her shout after him.

"I don't like this," Nikola said as she paced the aisle of the bus.

"Really? I couldn't tell," Brenda said sarcastically. "Could you sit down? Things are tense enough as it is, we don't need you adding to it."

"Ooh, Gally, you overprotective shuck face," Nikola growled ignoring her.

She remembered the day that Alby and Minho had gone into the maze and Alby got stung. Gally had said they either make it back or they don't, and when Minho appeared as the doors were closing, Gally had told Minho to leave Alby and save himself. Now he was running after Thomas of all people. It made her like him more but also hate him. Her pacing was put to a stop when a siren whooped in the distance and a car came screeching in.

"Everybody down!" Brenda instructed, the kids and Nikola getting down to make the bus appear empty.

She hated this so much. Brenda peered over the dash and sighed.

"Guards are coming," she informed Nikola.

She loaded her gun and crawled down the aisle to the door. "Only if it can't be avoided," she told Brenda as she sat and aimed her gun at the bus doors, ready for anything.

"Sorry, Nikola," Brenda sighed before turning the engine on.

"No, what are you doing?" Nikola cried as Brenda put it in gear. "We have to wait for the others!"

But Brenda had already sat up and put her foot on the gas, blowing past the guards and bursting out of the parking structure and onto the city street. They were tailed by multiple cars within minutes, making Nikola's blood boil as Brenda cursed. They had left everyone behind and for what? They weren't even going to save these kids. A truck came up beside them and Nikola looked ahead of them.

"You gotta ram him, Brenda!" She told her even as she felt like strangling her. "Now! Do it now!" Nikola reached over and turned the wheel with her, bashing into the truck, feeling it push back. But it wasn't enough, they ran him into the divider and Nikola looked back to see the truck flip.

"Crap!" Brenda yelled, getting her attention again, two more vehicles coming straight for them.

"Right!" Nikola yelled when she saw the side street come up. She almost lost her footing in the sharp turn. But it hadn't done them any good. The street was barricaded with armored cars and guards. Brenda had to screech to a halt which allowed their pursuers to catch up.

Nikola took her head in her hands, ripping off her mask and throwing it at the windshield. She heard the kids startle behind her.

"It's ok," Brenda tried to calm her. "I'll take care of it."

"No, I have the gear on, I could take a hit from that range and probably be ok," Nikola said as she reached for the flare gun but Brenda pulled it away.

"No, I'll do it," Brenda repeated calmly. She turned to the kids as the guards demanded she get off the bus. "Stay here," she told them and took one step out before popping back in. "You're doing great."

Nikola watched Brenda through the windows, praying Fry was ready for them. They could have shot Brenda at any second as she raised the flare gun slowly despite them yelling for her to drop it, and fired off the shot. That seemed to have enough element of surprise for them and they still didn't shoot. Before she knew it, the chain dropped from the sky, swinging right in front of the bus. Brenda quickly attached the hook to frame of the bus and ran back for the door as the bus slowly began to rise. The guards realized their precious cargo was getting away, too precious to get shot at, which was probably the only reason Brenda made it out of that alive. Nikola hauled her in before the front tires left the ground and they scrambled to get in position for a vertical lift out of there.

Screams filled her ears as she hung on tight and felt like she was about to lose her lunch with the swinging. They clipped the corner of a building and spun as well. It felt like it was taking forever, but finally they were dangling over the other side of the wall. Brenda laughed like they were home free right before the bus jerked and wiped the smile off her face.

"I guess it beats being torn apart by cranks," Nikola sighed before closing her eyes tightly. "I should have told him I loved him."

And then they were falling. It felt like the bottom of her stomach was caught in her throat as she went weightless for a moment before the line got stuck. She slammed back down and felt her brain hit the roof of her mouth, then they took another, short fall to the ground, almost rattling her teeth out of her skull. She finally took a breath, traces of tears on the corners of her eyes.

The bus was on the ground outside of the city now, but it was still vertical. It creaked and groaned around them before it started to fall.

"One more," Nikola complained under her breath as the kids screamed again. The nose of the bus crashed into the ground with a crunch, bouncing on its front wheels.

Heavy breaths filled the bus as kids sat up or got off the floor where they'd fallen.

Brenda took a look around, honestly amazed that they'd made it. "Ok!" she called. "Everybody off!"

Nikola stumbled out first, holding her shock rifle just in case. She saw the bus light had flickered on and read 'out of service.' She'd have to remember to tell that to Fry, he'd get a kick out of it. But at the moment she only cared about one thing. She tuned her walkie to a certain frequency.

"Lawrence," She called. "Right arm, if you read me, I need to get back in to the city. Gally and the others are still in there and I can't leave them behind."

She got an answer, but not from anyone she expected.


	23. The War

Gally and the others slid under the cover of some trees as a helicopter buzzed overhead. He prayed that Brenda had made Nikola go, he hoped they were outside of the city and not waiting for them, or worse, recaptured.

"How far are the tunnels from here?" Thomas asked him, panting.

"Uh, maybe twelve blocks from here," Gally answered before they heard Newt coughing. Gally turned back to Thomas. "We can make it," he assured him, not just meaning the tunnels.

"How long has he been like this?" Minho asked as he slid over to them, concern lacing his voice.

Thomas licked his lips and avoided Minho's tired eyes. It was hard for him to admit that Newt had kept this from him for God knows how long. Minho had needed help and that was something Newt could do something about, he couldn't do anything about having the flare. That's why Thomas only found out about it a little over a day ago, and was sworn to secrecy.

"We just have to get to Brenda," Thomas said as he stripped off his cold, wet jacket. "She's got the serum."

Gally was left with Minho as Thomas went to help Newt up, looking around for any guards coming their way.

"Why are you helping us, Gally?" Minho asked him, getting his attention. The runner was pale with bags under his eyes, not how Gally remembered him at all. But he did have a sheepishness about him now as he looked at the boy- the old friend he believed he killed. "I put a spear through your chest."

Gally had no idea how to respond to that. He knew Minho must have felt he had no other choice, and if he were honest, it was a pretty good call. Gally was out of his mind and had a gun, he could have killed or hurt more of them, he could have hurt Nikola. The thought made him want to shudder. Sure it was weird to look your killer in the eyes again, but this was Minho and they were in the middle of something a lot bigger than that right now.

"Yeah," Gally sighed before giving a shrug. "Nobody's perfect, man." He patted Minho on the shoulder as though all were forgiven, on his end at least, and got up to follow after Thomas and Newt.

They raced as fast as they could with Newt deteriorating every second, Minho and Thomas trying to carry him along as Gally watched for guards with his rifle at the ready. They were getting closer to the wall when a massive explosion rippled through the city. The wall was crumbling. Gally felt a wave of apprehension ripple through him, his bad lung twinging. He knew Lawrence was planning to take down Wicked, something Gally was behind one hundred percent. They had succeeded in hacking into their computers, they were destroying them from the inside. The kids were free, they had the serum, and Wicked was ruined... so why was he coming into the city? Not everyone here was with Wicked. Some of these people- most of these people were just trying to survive a pandemic for as long as possible and live their lives as normally as they could before it got to them.

"Th-they were supposed to take down Wicked..." Gally murmured, confused by what he was seeing. "Not the whole damn city," he swallowed as he realized he may have chosen the wrong side yet again.

It was shocking but they didn't have much time to begin with. Thomas and Minho pressed on with Newt, not exactly waiting for Gally to catch up with them. He felt his heart drop as he heard the far off sounds of gun fire beginning. Just when he'd been reunited with his friends, with Nikola, and had a shot of living in a world without Wicked, something had to go and make him think he wasn't going to make it out of this after all. He caught up easily with the others and tried to make it to the tunnels, but there was a massive road block ahead of them. They hid behind a low wall and cursed, bhe guards didn't seem to notice them, they just stood around with their guns aimed down the street in the direction they'd just come from.

"What are they waiting for?" Minho asked, receiving a quick answer as another explosion hit a building caddy corner from them, shouts of people from the outside filling their ears as they came running down the street.

Gally cursed again. They were stuck in the middle of a full on war now. Stuck and shucked, especially Newt. "We gotta go!" Gally said as gunfire rang out and shrapnel from more explosions rained over them. "We gotta go!"

They found an alley way where they could take shelter and Thomas got Brenda on the walkie, trying to tell her to forget about them and get out while they could. Gally felt Newt grab his jacket and pull him in closer.

"Gally," he wheezed, his face pale and slick with sweat. "You have to get out. Promise... promise me."

"What?" Gally asked, grabbing his wrist to let him know he was there, he was listening. A lump formed in his throat thinking of the years he'd spent in the glade with Newt, how they had been friends. It was hard to see him like this.

"Promise me you'll take care... of Nikola," Newt finally said.

"Come on, Newt, don't talk like that," Gally almost pleaded. "You know she's a handful, it'll take both of us, just like it did in the glade."

"Don't let her cry over me as long as she cried over you," Newt went on, not listening to him. "Make her happy."

"She's not going to be happy without you, alright? So just slim it. I'm getting you out of here and you're going to be fine," Gally said as Thomas came over, with a bit of good news.

"They're coming back for us," Thomas told them as he tried to get Newt up again.

"What? How?" Gally asked with furrowed brows. It wasn't that he didn't want to get out of there, but he didn't want Nikola to come back into the city war zone.

"I don't know," Thomas shook his head. "Brenda didn't say, so I guess we'll know it when we see it."

Thomas and Minho grabbed up Newt as Gally defended them, making their way through alleys and side streets. "We're almost there, Newt," Gally called over his shoulder.

A car went flying down the road they had come to and Gally almost fell backwards, ushering the other boys to get back as more gunfire and fighting now blocked their way. Why couldn't they catch a shucking break? They hunkered down and waited for the smoke to clear, people filling the street in front of them, making it harder to get across. Then they heard it, the berg flying over them, search lights roaming the streets. Newt even became more lucid, wondering if he really would get one final glance of Nikola, though he'd hate her to see him like this.

"That's them," Thomas said. "We gotta go."

"Go without me," Newt said as he coughed up black phlegm, resisting when Thomas tried to get him to his feet once more. The others just crouched around him as he drew ragged and frightened breaths.

"Minho," Thomas said softly. "You gotta run ahead and grab the serum, and get back to us as soon as you can."

Minho gave Thomas a look. He didn't want to leave his friend behind either, but what Thomas was asking for was a miracle.

"Minho," Thomas repeated desperately.

"He's right," Gally piped up, not ready to give up on things just yet. "I can cover." He got up, not ready to hear anything else that sounded like a goodbye and checked to see if the street had cleared. A moment later Minho was at his side and they were off.


	24. Rome Burning

They landed the Berg on a clear rooftop, away from the fighting. Nikola was the first to get out as the doors opened, looking around desperately for any sign of her friends. The whole city seemed to be on fire which didn't bode well for any of them. No one had told her anything about a full out war being fought. She just hoped they were ok or she really couldn't live with herself.

"They'll come," Brenda said as she joined her. "They will."

Nikola tried to believe her, to remember that they'd all survived the maze, and in Gally's case even death. They were tough, they could do this. And then there was a voice above the screaming and gunfire, one that belonged to a traitor and coward, and Nikola's stomach dropped.

"Thomas?" Teresa's voice reverberated over the speakers. "Can you hear me? I need you to listen to me. I know you have no reason to trust me, but I need you to come back."

Nikola's brows furrowed in confusion as she went to the edge of the roof, looking at a large screen with an emergency broadcast notice on it.

"Thomas! You can save Newt! There's still time for him."

Nikola's heart dropped as her hands covered her mouth. What had happened to Newt? Was he captured? Injured? In the back of her mind she remembered the day he'd snapped at Thomas, and how he'd begged her to let him tell her those 'just in case' things before they started this mission. She clamped her eyes shut as she fell into a crouch, her heart telling her what her brain didn't want to believe. He had the flare.

Her ears tuned out again as the pain exploded in her chest and her throat burned. Even the gun fire and explosions below them were soft, tinny echoes to her. She didn't hear Minho scream Brenda's name, running up with Gally, or see her and Fry run off with them. She was on her knees and elbows out of sight of the others, feeling like her soul was being ripped out of her body. He'd told her he loved her. He was the first person to ever say those words to her and she'd said them back like it was nothing. She had no idea he'd really meant goodbye.

She wanted to destroy Wicked. She want them gone forever. The explosions and gunfire now seemed like music to her ears. She wiped her face, telling herself she wasn't going to cry again until the city was done burning, and stood up. She saw only Vince, Jorge, and the kids in the berg when she returned. She looked at them confused for a second until their eyes looked beyond her. She turned and saw a few figures straggling through the smoke. There was Fry, Minho, Brenda, and Gally. No Newt, no Thomas.

Minho looked more exhausted than when he returned after a night in the maze, and so, so sad. Still his eyes lit up slightly when he recognized her. He picked up his pace and fell into her arms, both of them holding each other as tight as they could.

"I thought you were dead," Minho croaked over her shoulder.

She didn't say anything, she couldn't, not without breaking down in tears again. Minho pulled back a bit to look at her, their arms still loosely around each other.

"Thomas went back," he told her, not saying anything about Newt.

"Alright," she nodded. "Then so are we. One last time," she announced before turning and marching toward the cockpit, stripping off the bulky jacket and tossing it aside. No one stopped her or questioned her by the time she sat down and strapped in.

"Nikola! What are you doing?" Jorge yelled, stumbling toward when she powered up the berg and lifted off suddenly.

"Everyone buckle up," she replied calmly, a stony mask hiding the emotions that still throbbed deep in her chest. She was putting her foot on the stupid gas pedal now.

She aimed the berg for the tall building they had been in earlier, assuming that's where Thomas would be. Lawrence's army was focusing a lot of their fire power on it, making it even easier to spot.

"She can fly this?" Gally asked Brenda in surprise, feeling like it wasn't safe to ask her himself. He'd been unable to save Newt no matter how hard he tried. The vision of his friend laying lifeless on the pavement was forever etched in his mind just like Chuck. And he'd heard Newt and Nikola exchange words before they left.

"She can do a lot of things," Brenda informed him as she hastily put on her seat belt and tried to get everyone to do so as well. "Brace yourself," she warned Gally.

The berg dipped to the side suddenly, avoiding a missile fired from the ground at it. The right arm clearly had no way of knowing they weren't Wicked, and were trying to keep them from rescuing any Wicked staff. She could see the building was on fire even from here, but she wasn't turning back yet. She was going to that roof top, she was looking for Thomas, and she was never living with the regret of leaving someone behind ever again.

It was hard to see anything on the roof at all, and Nikola remembered the propellers for the berg were mounted on the front of the ship.

"Hold on!" She yelled before dipping down, coming at the building from a lower angle so the props would douse some of flames to give her a clear view of the roof. She thought her eyes were playing tricks on her again, showing her what she wanted to see, but there seemed to be two figures huddled on the walkway. "They're there! They're there! Get ready!" She announced.

She whipped the berg around so they could open the hatch and get them. She wasn't happy to see Teresa but she ignored it, not letting it stop her from doing what she had to do. She did her best to keep the berg steady, but was unable to really land on the roof.

"This is as close as I can get!" she hollered over her shoulder.

The fire and constant explosions kept wafting hot air up under the berg, making it very difficult to keep it still and close to the building. Vince, Minho and Gally went to the open hatch with Brenda.

"You gotta get closer!" Gally yelled.

"Thomas, you lousy shank," she muttered. "Your stupid has been rubbing off on me," she ignored the blaring alarms and dropped even lower, taking deep even breaths to keep her hands from shaking on the controls.

There was another explosion and she noticed one of the monitors blaring. A building nearby was hit and collapsing over onto their rooftop.

"Are they in?" She yelled as loud as she could over her shoulder, but was drown out by the sound of the impact, the force of it rattling the berg.

She didn't hear anything, so she turned to look for herself, seeing Thomas safely on board, but no Teresa. The alarm blared again, saying the building beneath them was about to go.

"Come on!" Nikola yelled, her hoarse voice cracking. "Get her in here!" She tried to steady and lower the berg again, but it was harder with the increased heat.

She heard one sound over the explosion and it was Thomas. She knew the pain in his voice all to well, she knew the sound of loss. She closed her eyes tight for a moment. She wasn't ever fond of Teresa, but she liked death even less. She was tired of it. So, she had to make sure that was the last loss of the night. She had to get them out of there and heard the commotion behind her, that Thomas was shot, and she knew she needed to hurry. The only problem was that she didn't know where she was going. She figured it would be best to get clear of the city first and figure the rest out later. So she aimed for the wall dead ahead of them and increased the throttle.

"Vince!" She yelled, trying to be calm. "Jorge? Somebody please tell me where I'm going!"

Someone did appear beside her, hands reaching around her to the controls. Familiar hands with nails bitten to the quick. The flightpath they'd used to get there was displayed, a return route plotted to return on that course, and auto pilot engaged. Then those hands paused, hovering for a moment before hesitantly landing on hers. They pried her hands off of the controls and held them for a moment, callused fingers pressed into her palms.

"Gally! Get over here and help us!" Fry called.

And then she was alone.


	25. New Beginnings

Nikola landed the berg down the beach a ways so the props wouldn't blow over any of the tents and structures they had set up. Torches were speeding down the sand as they rushed a stretcher to collect Thomas and get him taken care of. The kids stayed in their seats, watching until Thomas was gone. Blood was smeared on the floor, the smell of iron pushed into Nikola's face by the sea breeze before it disappeared into the salty smell of the ocean. She watched as others came for the kids, telling them they were safe now.

One girl looked over at Nikola. She saw her staring despondently at the blood on the floor and went over to her. Nikola looked up when she came into her field of vision but couldn't make out her face before she had arms wrapped around her shoulders.

"Thank you," she said before pulling away and following the others, revealing Vince behind her.

He just stared at her for a moment, torn between telling her she did good and giving his condolences.   
"Nikola," he sighed, placing a hand on her shoulder. "Go get some rest. It's been a long, long day."

She nodded, swallowing a lump in her throat as she stood up on shaky legs. Vince stayed behind, planning to move the berg off of the beach. She finally noticed the figure standing on the edge of the walkway. Clad in black, tall and broad, it had to be Gally. She walked up beside him, the breeze hitting her with more force and giving her goosebumps. She wished she hadn't gotten rid of- Gally held out her jacket to her. She looked up at him as she took it, his gaze lingering over the beach, reminding her of the day with the daisy.

She'd never not been running. She had run from the maze, from Wicked, from cranks. She'd ran after Minho and chased after the others so she was never left behind. There had never been a time where something important wasn't making her move. But now it was all over. This was home. Gally was there. Newt was gone.

She looked down at the sand as she put the jacket on, feeling like the minute she stepped foot off the berg it really would be all over, all their losses permanent and all their goals and plans checked off. She looked up at Gally, realizing he had left everyone he knew in the right arm behind. All he had now was Thomas, Minho, Fry, and her. She held her hand out to him and felt relieved when he took it. They stepped into their new lives together.

"I'm sorry. About..." Gally said as they ambled slowly along the beach, not able to make himself say his name.

"I am too," she said as she held his hand a little tighter. Her heart was heavy knowing Newt should have been with them, he deserved to be. She wished they could have helped him and part of her even wished she could have loved him back when she had the chance so at least he could have died having known love at all. But feeling Gally's hand in hers, she knew her heart only belonged in one place. "He deserved better."

"I really tried to help him, I swear," Gally's voice broke, catching her attention immediately and bringing them to a stop. "We were so close, we could have made it if -"

"Whoa, whoa," Nikola tried to calm him down, holding onto his arm as he bit his lips and shook his head. "I know you must have done everything you could, I didn't mean it like that. He was your friend."

Gally nodded and looked down with tear filled eyes. He felt her palm on his cheek and leaned into it before they wrapped their arms around each other, taking a moment on a cold, dark beach to mourn their friend.

After a while, some people came to them wanting to make sure they were ok, giving them water and finding them a place to sleep. Hammocks were the only thing available and Gally worried about her being out in the cold, but she seemed too tired to care. Even though he was exhausted he still had trouble sleeping.

When he noticed she had finally passed out, he got up from his hammock and put his jacket over her as well. He brushed some hair back from her face, feeling a thrill from touching her skin. He stared at her sleeping face, hardly able to believe everything that had happened the past two days. He'd been reunited with her, found out she didn't hate him, and, the best part, she'd wanted to kiss him as much as he'd wanted it too. Relief washed over him that he was there with her now, that they'd made it through. Now he just had to figure out if she still felt the same.

The sun woke Nikola the next day, once it was high and bright in the sky. She wasn't ready to be awake just then and squinted her eyes unhappily, looking for something to block the sun with. That's when she noticed him. His broad back was turned to her as he sat in front of her hammock, hunched over something and working intensely. She carefully rubbed her eyes till she could see clearly and then just watched him for a while. She'd get glimpses of his profile now and then, his freckles were warm and glowing in the sun. She caught glimpses of the piece of paper he had, a ruler in one hand and a pencil in the other as he covered the paper with lines and notes. She bit back a satisfied smile that he was back to being a builder. He set his pencil down and held up the picture, the sea breeze wafting the corners around. It was a simple house, but it had his style all over it. She smiled even bigger.

"It looks really good," she spoke up, getting a soft look from over his shoulder.

"Thanks," he said with a small smile before carefully folding it up and tucking it safely in his pocket. He gave her a more serious look after that, one she knew well and it made her smile droop. "You're late for work, Greenie."

As much as Gally had seemed to improve himself, some parts of his personality were still exactly the same. He was keeping her busy, pushing her to work on something constructive and it reminded her of the good old days in the glade. A bitter sweet feeling of peace settled over her with the memories that seemed like a lifetime ago. She hadn't been able to visit those memories without feeling pain over missing Gally, but now that she knew he was alive it didn't hurt so bad. While forcing her to work the day after they'd lost a close friend might have seemed a bit cold or heartless to some, she understood what he was doing. In the Glade you had to keep busy and stay productive or you'd fall apart. If she hadn't been busy doing whatever he told her to, she would have been doing nothing at all except wallowing in her own feelings. 

She was carrying some wood planks when she saw Gally talking to Sonya. Beautiful, blonde, sweet Sonya. She was smiling at him and Nikola felt her gut bottom out, almost dropping the planks. She hadn't ever had an opportunity to discover she was apparently a very jealous person and she was embarrassed and ashamed of herself for it. The thought of Gally returning from the dead just for her to have to watch him fall in love with someone else would be far too much to bear. 

"Nikola, are you ok?" Brenda called out to her from the building project she was supposed to be bringing the planks to. Gally looked over when he heard it and Nikola quickly turned away and got back to work. "You don't look so good," Brenda commented once she got closer. "I think you need a break."

"I think you're right," Nikola ran a hand over her hair. "I still smell like smoke and fire and it's driving me crazy. I think I'll track down some clean clothes and figure out how to take a shower or bath or whatever they got going on here."

"Yeah, why don't you do that," Brenda nodded encouragingly. "And drink some water too."

"Yes, Mom," Nikola gave a weak smile before wandering off, avoiding looking in Gally's direction.

After wandering around looking lost and feeling weird for a little while she finally caught Harriet's eye. She was some what acquainted with her so it was a relief to have her come up and help her. She got some fresh clothes, realizing she'd lost her old shirt in the craziness of last night. Even though it was ripped from the spear and stained in blood, it was also the only tangible thing she had from the glade and kept it all from feeling like a dream. She swallowed as she held up a new shirt in front of her, having to claim it and see what new memories it might collect from her future.

The showers were cold and didn't have much water pressure, but she was used to that and was just happy to be clean, washing away a lot more than just dirt and the smell of smoke that had clung to her hair. She was putting her pants on last and paused to look at the scar on her thigh, thoughts of Teresa crossing her mind making her leg ache. Harriet had tried to give her a cute pair of shorts like Sonya had been wearing but Nikola wanted to cover her scars. She pulled the pants on and combed her fingers through her wet hair, sighing at the reflection that stared back from the chipped and spotty mirror they'd brought in from the boat. She did not see a daisy.

The sun had started to fall in the sky and she wasn't sure she wanted to return to work just then. She took a stroll toward the medical tent to check on Thomas, feeling guilty that between Newt and Gally she hadn't given him much thought. She was surprised when she looked up from the sea grass beneath her feet and saw Thomas slowly coming toward her. She hadn't expected him to even be awake, let alone moving around after everything, so she had no idea what she was going to say to him. Nevertheless she met him halfway and was almost shocked when instead of speaking he just threw his arms around her and hugged her so tightly she couldn't breath. She couldn't ever remember him hugging her before so it struck her as odd.

"Thanks for coming for me," His voice was hoarse and barely above a whisper and she finally put her arms around him as well.

"I'm sorry about Teresa," she replied, still having her bones crushed. She wondered where he was getting this strength from.

"That means a lot coming from you," he almost chuckled and she smiled though he couldn't see it.

"I know what it's like to lose someone- we both do, it sucks," she said as he finally pulled back, still holding onto her to stay steady. "Let's hope we get a break here."

"Amen to that," he nodded solemnly. "Are you going to give me the tour or what?"

"Are you sure you should be up and walking?" she raised a brow. "You were shot last night, you know."

"I want to see it," he told her seriously.

"Alright then," she sighed, helping him along toward what she'd already started calling the homestead, just like in the glade. "But to be honest I haven't even seen much of it yet."

"How come?"

"Oh," she trailed off with a sigh. "I'm a builder again, apparently. Gally had me working all day."

"Really?" Thomas said with a lilt to his voice. "How are things with Gally?"

"I don't know... confusing," She replied, wondering why Thomas even cared. He'd punched Gally as soon as he'd laid eyes on him, she didn't think he'd quite gotten over everything yet. "We cleared up some stuff about the past, but I'm not entirely sure where we stand now, you know? We've been apart much longer than we were ever together, there's people outside the glade who've known him longer than I have. We've changed."

"You're right," Thomas nodded. "Gally's not as big of a shank as he used to be, but you really went downhill, you know? Coming back for a disaster like me? That's an idiot move, Nik."

"It was," she agreed. "I might even live to regret it."

A few people had finally spotted them making their way over and came to see them, Minho being the first. Nikola stepped to the side to make room for everyone. Brenda was next of course, seeing how she had a not so subtle crush on Thomas. Aris, Jorge, Frypan and Gally all made their way over when they saw he was up and about. 

The sun was falling faster and everyone started to gather around the beginnings of a big bonfire. Cups were passed around with alcohol that was only slightly better than what Gally used to make in the glade. Nikola got hers and looked around for a place to sit, trying to spot familiar faces. Gally had an empty spot beside him, but Sonya was on the other side, chatting him up again. The jealous ache returned to her chest as she slid in next to Frypan who was turned away, talking to Minho who had Thomas on his other side. She looked down into her cup intently, missing the confused glance Gally tossed her over his shoulder.

Not much could be done about it because the bonfire was finally lit and Vince was standing in front of it, ready to make a speech. Everyone quieted down to listen to him as the ocean breeze carried his voice.

"We have come a long way together," he began. "So many have sacrificed so much to make this place possible. Your friends, and your family. So, here's to the ones who couldn't be here," He raised his cup and everyone followed suit.

Nikola felt a lump in her throat as she thought of Newt, how he'd never get to see this place or experience a world without Wicked breathing down his neck. She raised her glass extra high for him.

"Here's to the friends we lost. This place is for you, for all of us. But this," he gestured to a tall stone where the sand met the seagrass. "This is for them. So, in your time, in your own way, come make your peace. And welcome to the safe haven."

Everyone else cheered at that, but Nikola couldn't do it. She knew if she opened her mouth only sobs would come out. The alcohol pushed down the lump in her throat and made it easier for her go with the others down to the stone when they asked her to. Thomas, Minho, Fry, and Gally stood in front of it, not knowing where to even begin.

"We could all put Newt's name up there," Fry suggested after they'd been standing around with the weight of their collective losses catching up to them.

"I like that idea," Minho agreed. "Who goes first?"

"Can I?" Nikola piped up making the others turn their gaze from the stone to her. "it's just... he was the first person I ever saw."

The lump in her throat was back with a vengeance and the tears finally fell. Without a word Thomas handed her the tools and stepped back. She swiped away her tears and set to work on the stone. N for Newt and N for Nikola too. When she was done she handed the tools over to Gally next without even thinking, then went and sat down to have a good cry. It would take a long time to make peace with some things.

She had been there for quite a while before she composed herself again. Conversation had died down but the fire was still going strong. She looked up and saw Gally still at the stone, chipping away all by himself. Curious, she got up to see what name he was writing. He was brushing off the dust when she came up behind him and saw it.

Chuck.

He was just standing there, staring at the name. It would take a very long time to make peace with some things indeed. Even though she didn't blame Gally for Chuck, she still realized he was responsible for what happened. He had been kept prisoner and tormented for three years, experienced terrible things and suffered loss, and had been stung on top of it all, but his finger had still pulled the trigger. She couldn't imagine the pain of it. Gally wouldn't admit it back then, but he did have a fondness for the kid.

She tentatively reached out and touched his arm till he turned and looked at her, sadness written on his face. She didn't have anything to say that could ease the pain for either of them, so she just leaned her head on his shoulder and held onto his arm as they stared at all the names on the stone. Thomas had written Teresa's name, someone else had written Winston's, and Newt's stared back at her, standing out from all the others.

They were still for several moments before Gally turned to face her, pulling her in as he hugged her. He almost felt guilty about the relief he felt that he wasn't having to write her name on that stone, or vice versa. She had been acting kind of funny for a while so he was glad but surprised that she had come to him like that. He pulled back just enough to look at her, her face staring up at him in the glow of the fire like it had that night in the glade when they had their playfight and she had touched his face. He was nervous again but he wasn't going to hold back.

He reached up, his finger tips brushing her jaw and chin. She kept her face tilted up toward him even as he cautiously brought his lips closer to hers. They just brushed at first, as if asking for permission. She wasn't going anywhere, which was enough encouragement for him. He brought their lips together again, still a bit fleeting as if they were just getting reacquainted. It didn't take long. They soon remembered the night where 'enough' didn't exist. They couldn't be close enough, no amount of kisses were enough, and they couldn't breathe enough. 

Nikola had felt her heart ignite when Gally's lips had first just brushed hers, but when he held her against him, fingertips pressing desperately into her skin as he kissed her deeply, she felt herself burst like a firework. He kissed her till she felt silly for ever having been jealous of another girl.

"Geez, get a room!" some one yelled, making them break their kiss, arms still tangled around each other. 

"I have to build it first," Gally replied even though he never took his eyes off Nikola. 

She was almost embarrassed but couldn't help grinning as she remembered the plans he was drawing up for a house. Her smile was short lived as his lips met hers once more in a sweet kiss this time. 

"I still love you," he murmured against her lips before kissing the corner of her mouth, her cheek, her jaw, feeling her temperature skyrocket and her hands grip his shirt tightly.

"I still love you too," she replied, her breath hitching slightly with each new sensation. "I never stopped."


End file.
